3-15-07: Rob colors JK's THE MAXX drawing.

JK drew this last year, and while I was a little bored, I decided to play around with it in Photoshop. Now unlike some other pieces, this was in black and white, so I got to color it fully instead of using JK's color grids that I normally use. I like how it came out quite a bit, and hope that JK is, too, because I kinda did it for him (without asking...y'know, a gift).

I know he puts in a lot of hours drawing (slaving) away at our webcomic, so I wanted to do something nice for him, so I played around with this...I especially like how Julie and the Isz came out. Not sure what I think of my take on MAXX in the drawing, but again, I really like the other two parts...

comments?

3-14-07: Video Game Bliss...MANY THINGS INSIDE!

Alright, this story starts yesterday. As everyone knows, I'm a store manager of a GAMESTOP in Raleigh, NC...so I like video games. Its a hobby, and a pastime. My wife doesn't understand why I like them, just like I don't understand why she likes romance novels about things that would never and will never happen to any one of our friends, relatives, or US for that matter...okay, so no rants here, this isn't about a fight that the wife and I had, this is about pure goodness...VIDEO GAMES THAT ARE GOOD...in fact, some that are DAMN good...in fact, some of these are SOME OF THE BEST GAMES IF YOU CAN FIND THEM.

So last night, about 6pm, I walk into my sister store across the hall (an EB Games at the same mall...don't ask). The manager, Jason, is talking to a guy who is trying to get rid of some Playstation 1 games. Now, our company DOES NOT take these items back, but remember, we ARE gamers...we LOVE games, and we (as wrestling writers say) MARK OUT for GREAT CLASSICS. Well, this guy wants to just dump them off, and Jason tells him that if he were to put them on EBay or somewhere that he'll make a boatload on them. So I look at them and he tells me he wants $15 for ALL of them...13 games in all, and now for the titles...followed in parenthesis with GAMESTOP's SELL price (what we'd sell it for).

Final Fantasy VII black label edition, meaning the first print, NOT Greatest Hits (29.99)
Final Fantasy Tactics Greatest Hits (12.99)
Final Fantasy IX Black Label (17.99)
Lunar: Silver Star Story (29.99)
Lunar 2: Eternal Blue LIMITED EDITION (34.99)
Legend of Mana Black Label (19.99)
Grandia Black Label (19.99)
Suikoden (29.99)
Suikoden II (59.99)

There were a couple others, like Legend of Dragoon, but I sold that one the same night I bought them for $18, meaning, I spent $2 on all these, since I eventually bought them from the guy for $20. Now even though those prices represent what GAMESTOP would be selling them for, it does NOT represent the current prices on these titles, with Suikoden II going for upwards of $150 on Ebay, and Black Label editions of the others taking in 2-3 times those values. It was a good day indeed, since the company could NOT take them and help the guy, I gladly did (so as such, not breaking any rules).

ANYONE wanting to make an OFFER on ANY of these titles contact me through my email address, rpotchak@gmail.com or my myspace page that you read this at.

Okay, so that was the surreal "Let's Make a Deal" of the century area for me (because if I sell these now, I will probably have a decent amount of cabbage come in for them)...but today, GOD OF WAR II came out on Playstation 2, and it seems WALMART may be pulling the game based on the fact that Kratos, the main character, has sex with hot partially nude women, and the violence, vulgarity and everything else has everyone thinking this game is TOO over the top. I for one applaud Walmart for dropping the title, but only because it means it'll be harder for ass-clowns to find it from places that WON'T be carding underagers...

Finally, TIGER WOODS 2007 came out for the WII today, and I think its great. The controls are a bit wonky, but for the most part, it plays just like I would want it to. I flub shots like I do in real life, so I mean, hell, it probably is the most realistic golf game out there...no bones about it. After playing a round, you actually feel a bit worn, with all the swinging, especially if you are like me and really attempting to use your golf swing. I give it four clubs.

Alright, so again, anyone looking for any of those games, contact me about them with an offer, and let's make a deal!

3-11-07: DAMN TIME WARNER CABLE TO HELL!

So Sunday night was the TNA PPV: Destination X, which included some really cool match ideas as well as just some good matches, like Samoa Joe going after the world title against Christian Cage... well, that's all fine and dandy, except for the fact that Time Warner Cable screwed the pooch, because they couldn't get the program to load. My buddy, Tino, and I are here, ready for the pay per view, only to not have it come on in NC from TWC because they couldn't figure out how to get Daylight Savings time to work correctly.

I've already decided that I'm going to DirecTV when they add their new HD capacity, but this is freaking ridiculous. I mean, I have given TWC every chance in the world to make things right, and here's why they piss me off.

1) They don't offer ESPN 2 HD...why not?
2) They don't offer WWE 24-7, the one PAY channel I want.
3) This is the second time they've screwed up getting wrestling PPVs.
4) From what I've read, they are more expensive

So that's the reason I've decided I'll go to satellite when DirecTV is offering more HD channels, which they keep saying will be soon... and if its at the same price I'm paying right now, I won't give a shit about it.

Thanks for hearing the rant tonight.

3-7-07: Watch out, the kid's getting crazy...two posts on one day?!

So yeah, I got a little bored and decided to write more...what, you got a problem with that? Heh, kidding. So here's a weird bit...ARDY's comic, over at ardyvanstarr.com is still being beaten in hits by LANDIS's comic, which doesn't update anymore over at elisalandis.com. I really appreciate what everyone is trying to see hoping that Landis is updating, but unfortunately, that's still some time off...

So today I went to my deviantart.com site...http://rpotchak.deviantart.com to upload some new art, since I keep getting asked to by a few people, though none of them I don't think have ever looked at the site...now the art that's on there is BRAND NEW, not seen anywhere else yet, so hopefully people will actually enjoy some of it...here's a taste of it...this piece is a head sketch of Wolverine in a different type of sketching style than I typically use.

Enjoy!

3-7-07: The American Dream Dies...or does it? Comic Spoilers inside...

If you have not read CAPTAIN AMERICA #25 from Marvel Comics yet, I urge you to do so, however, if you are not willing to spend $3.99 for the issue, then I'll kill you with a spoiler right now.

In Captain America #25, as is being reported on all major news outlets...Steve Rogers is shot... and speculatively killed. Not only that, but the actual murder was NOT done by the initial sniper known as Crossbones, but by Cap's female companion and lover, Sharon Carter. Now here's where it gets interesting.

In MIGHTY AVENGERS #1, Carol Danvers, aka Ms. Marvel, tells Jessica Drew aka Spider-Woman that Cap isn't dead, and that he's being kept under wraps, being a Super Soldier means he isn't prone to the same types of injuries or physically debilitating wounds that other may be, however this still doesn't "compute." Cap was on the table, and though the vitals were NOT shown, he most assuredly was "dead." So here's the most common fix to this problem...

Knowing that there would be snipers and possible assassins out to kill Captain America, Tony Stark pulls his final trick...an attempt to let Rogers figure out the American ideal, and creates a clone / cyborg version of Steve Rogers very similar to the clone / cyborg of Thor. This way he would appear to be dead, and Cap, now a registered superhuman would begin his quest to find out what the REAL american ideal is about today. A great year long story could begin out of this idea, and the man known as Steve Rogers could finally once again see what it takes to be Captain America.

Of course, I don't think the man is dead, but if he is, thanks to Ed Brubaker for writing this poignant piece of comic history. Hell, even if he stays dead for a year and comes back from cloned DNA or whatever, Brubaker did it diligently, and left us asking questions, the way a great writer does. Steve Epting once again allowed all the great art to flow from his pen and ink and create a truly remarkable issue. I just hope Marvel doesn't screw it up...

Leave it where it is for the moment, let it settle in...and only bring him back when the right writer can do it...and Ed has proven he can do that.

3-6-07: Work Related Dilemma and more...

So the people checking out THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES today have given us decent numbers...not the greatest or anything, but better than a non-advertised day, so I'm not unhappy, I'm just not super ecstatic like the day we advertised Elisa Landis (of www.elisalandis.com) in a bath towel, when she got over 14000 unique hits that day...shows you what a guy with a giant yellow nose, versus a hot redhead in a bathtowel is capable of doing. So, again, decent numbers for a title that is barely a month old without a female lead, but I guess with the female characters upcoming, we may see better numbers in the future.

Okay, now to what the subject line says...does anyone know how bad a non-signed credit card slip is? First of all, it breaks the simplest policy we have...get all documents signed. Duh. Now couple that with the fact that the transaction was almost $800...now what do I do? Well, after contacting my boss to find out what I had to do in that situation, I now have to contact the person in charge of sales audits to find out if the charge has been disputed...If the charge is not disputed, and is legitimate, the employee in question has to be given a First and Final warning. This means any future slip ups for the rest of their employment, they can be terminated for with proper HR approval...that's if its a legitimate charge...if it turns out fraudulent, I have to contact my boss, who in turn has to contact HR and together we have to fire him...or even better is in my bosses terms, "Someone gets fired for an $800 loss..."

What would everyone out there do? How do we spin a positive label on the employee here? This is just stupid bullshit that more than anything should HAVE NEVER HAPPENED...this is the biggest issue I currently have with my job, the fact that I have an employee that makes it so easy to fire them, when in actuality, you'd think they would WANT to do their job better. I'm tired of telling them that they need to shape up, but I'm not in the mood to attempt to hire anyone at the moment. Its bad enough I have personal things to take care of, let alone now possibly having to find a new employee for not following the simplest of company tasks...

Not only this, but since both this employee and the assistant Manager did not contact me, I may have to take further action with the ASM...Christ, this is becoming a natural disaster here.

Oh well, at least in the night time I can talk about comics I've written and where I intend to go from here...

3-6-07: Friends in MySpaces....

Well, another one of my "friends" has joined the ranks of MySpace, and this is one that I have to tell everyone about. His name is Eric Kent, and he's an artist...in fact, he's currently working on two different projects with me when he has the time, the first of which is entitled THIEF and the other is the sequel to LANDIS called TAGGER. He just recently showed up on MySpace, so everyone should check out his penciled covers for THIEF as well as his concept art for the lead character.

http://www.myspace.com/kurserod

Today also marks the first advertisement for The Ardy Vanstarr Adventures on KEENSPOT. That's right, anyone who checks out ANY keen comic today will have the oppurtunity to join the revolution and read a truly unique comic, brought to your by Pots and Pans Ink and Junior Bruce Productions...or for those less informed...Rob Potchak and the artist known to the world as JK. I'll post a bulletin about this, because its the first big deal for comics stuff I've done since the publishing of DEAD SONJA and the launching of TAVA.

JK says he's finishing up the last three pages he's got for the "first issue" of TAVA and we'll be chugging away at the rest of the first story arc to get ahead on the project. After that, I'll be writing the second arc to the tune of introducing the new badguy of the world, THE SILVERFISH, which you can check out character designs on http://yourbuddybuddy.deviantart.com.

You may also see some quick changes to the TAVA website (ardyvanstarr.com or vanstarr.com) in the coming days, as I think Chris is going to be kind enough to add a tracker and a logo to the site. I think its necessary to get it up there, since we want to look all big and bad with our first ad shot.

Well, that's all for now, hopefully enough people will check this stuff out, I don't usually spend full blogs on plugs for friends and such, so come on, hook a brother up...heh.

3-4-07: Wondering what to do?

So last night I let everyone in on the idea of doing a sketchbook, and today I'm going to elaborate on it a tad more.

I'm thinking do we just want to make it a sketchbook of the characters from The Ardy Vanstarr Adventures, or do we want to just sketch whatever the hell we want?

Every artist that wants to promote themselves at some point does a sketchbook and sells it trying to cover the costs not only of the sketchbook, but also of their studio rent and what have you. I want to do one because I want people to see what I'm drawing, what comes to mind and where its going to go. Because of this, I figure I'll devote certain pages of the sketchbook specifically to TAVA, but then the other pages I think I should be allowed to draw whatever I'd like...or whatever others suggest.

I'd like to know what or whom people would like me to draw, which comic characters, which superheros, whatever. I'd like to know because i'd like to test my own personal artistic boundaries a little more, much like JK does on his Deviant page (which I haven't been taking very good care of mine and I apologize to anyone that's checked it out).

Anyway, Send your suggestions, but be serious when doing so, and I'll blog about which ones I've decided to take on.

And on that note, I'll leave you with a quote from Jim Rome..."So what if Billy Joel drove a car through a house...it could happen to anyone......named Billy Joel."

3-3-07: Say it sexy like Ricardo Mantoban...

Love those new Taco Bell commercials, but only because the one lion can't roll his Rs like the other.

I have two things to talk about right now, and the second one is going to give people headaches just trying to understand...the first however, is a comic update...

JK and I are still having issues getting the website how we'd like which is disappointing for TAVA, since I'd love to have it looking spiffy by now, but hey, we made it through the first month without any issues coming up and we've got through the middle of April done...hopefully we'll be far enough ahead that when I start the next story, we'll be done the first one and be able to breathe a big sigh of relief...I just wish I knew how to add the tracker to it, since I'd like to see how many people are actually checking out the site...I mean, even the blogs have picked up more people reading since I started trying to make them more frequent...

Oh...the other thing. I offered a suggestion to JK the other day and he likes it...its for a Sketchbook for THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES that we'd print up through a Print on Demand run...I am thinking 48 pages of sketches, with 32 or so of his and 16 of mine...but who knows...since he's the art guy he may want more...we'd try to keep it inexpensive so that we could get some people to buy it, but at the same time, try to get a little income rolling in so we could spend more time on the comic. I know both him and myself would love to do this as a job, rather than our jobs, but that would require some serious income, and that isn't seeming likely.


Now, something a little different... I'm going to go over my third key, Kyle here, because he makes me laugh in a "Why do I still have him working here" way...Since he's been hired, he's mis-counted the register an unknown amount of times, locked his keys in the backroom TWICE, and asked more questions than a 5 year old just learning that Santa doesn't exist...

The weird thing is, I find myself wanting him to "Get it," and not wanting to find someone else, even though I think that'd be the easier thing to do. He continues to just ask the same things over, and over, and over...he continues to NOT be able to get out of the store at a decent time, and he's struggling with WHY he gets written up rather than realizing that they are to make him a better employee.

He feels there's no way for him to impress me, and he wants to learn "everything," so he says, but yet he has yet to try to learn everything because he CAN'T understand the stuff that I've told him to understand and keep in his head already. How can you be a college graduate and have problems giving people the right change on a day to day basis? How can you not only lock your keys in the back once, but twice? How can you forget the combination to the safe when you go into it almost daily?

3-2-07: Crazy People and shit....

So my wife has this friend, named Becky, and everytime you turn around she's got some crazy stalker ex-boyfriend...now this may be the norm for some people, but WHY IN THE HELL do you continue to go for these guys that try to follow you, show up unexpected, and attempting to cause bodily damage? This type of shit just doesn't compute for the logical ones in the room, since if someone seems like they are a freak, you normally just leave them to their shit...

I dunno...respond if you have a better understanding of this stuff, because, well, while I know it can happen to anyone...you have to be ASKING for it to have it happen with EVERYONE.

2-28-07: Myspace blogging a good idea?

Y'know, I've been doing this blogging thing ever since I saw Jim Lee and his group of hooligans at gelatometti2.blogspot.com doing there's and yeah, what can I say, I was a follower then.

This blog (robpotchak.blogspot.com) gets around 300 genuine hits a month, and now has gotten a total of 340 on my myspace page (myspace.com/potsandpansink). Not exactly a great number, but the hell with it, the more info I get out there about what I'm writing, drawing and what have you, the better.

Tonight, I told my wife I wanted to write a movie...she said, "I know whatever you want to write, it'll be good..."

I then told her I wanted what I write to be a horror film, but only if I could get John C McGinley (Dr. Cox from Scrubs) to be the bad guy. I don't think he'd do "cheesy horror" tho... She said, "I really don't like that kind of movie, but I'm sure you'd write a good one, since you can write..." and it got me thinking.

Did Robert DeNiro think HIDE AND SEEK was going to be a good horror film? Did Johnny Depp think SECRET WINDOW was going to be a good film? I know they liked the scripts, I know they acted their asses off...but those movies weren't just stinkers, they were SEE NO EVILS (the really bad film with KANE from the WWE in it).

Then I began to watch SE7EN tonight and it hit me...the reason that film was good was David Fincher totally fucking with your mind. Giving you the bad guy early on and then finally nailing you with it later...not exactly HORROR, more action/suspense/thriller, but gory. Not to mention, they didn't put Kevin Spacey in the beginning credits, to kind of leave him in as a surprise.

Oh well, to come up with an idea like that...man that'd be money in the bank.

So I re-read CIVIL WAR #7 from Marvel and wanted to give my opinion on this GIANT EVENT from Marvel. First of all, Kudos for giving us a winner...in fact, as Mark Millar himself said, they gave us two...Cap won the fight, Iron Man won the war...before it ever started. There was no chance for Cap to win. He just didn't want to give up for the heroes...until...the regular man stepped in and got to him. They made him realize that his decisions did not help their fates as people that could not protect themselves, but rather, were for his own ideas that how he wanted everything to shape...in essence, Millar said, "Fuck you to all you twits that thought Iron Man was the bad guy of this this story...I fooled the piss out of you, didn't I?" And y'know...in the end, he kinda did.

There's a spot over at Rich Johnston's LYING IN THE GUTTERS (cbr.cc under the columns) where someone replaced the final two pages of lettering from Civil War with Mark Millar's other great mini-series, WANTED...if you read them with THAT set of dialogue, it really makes you wonder what the fuck is going on with everyone, but it makes you laugh none the less.

Well, more people come across a blog that it written more frequently, so I'm attempting to do so, and I hope those who come across don't just swing by, but offer up their opinions as well. There's a lore coming around the corner from me, and while my regular day-time life still has some things needing to be finished before I'm technically a free man again (fully), I do intend to continue writing here and getting back to the writing table to start some new stuff...I think it'll be fun to get to something new...

or maybe revisitng something older.

2-27-07: Back from AC...not as poor as I thought I'd be...

So yeah, got back around 9:30pm Sunday night, which was a bear of a drive with snow coming down...took 7.5 actual drive hours to get up there and took like 9.5 to get home, not exactly fun driving...start and stop throughout Delaware, Maryland and Virginia...soon as we got to NC, though, we were able to get through the rest in like two hours...

The two pictures you see are actually two winners I had...my days went like this...I got to the Trop at about 10am, and went right to the 3 card poker table. I slapped $120 down and said that this is all I'm going to play at the tables. Well, I got two pair, but in the end, and after about 10 hands, I ended with $0 of that...so we went to penny and nickel slots. I began to feel like I would never win anything, and was down about $400 after day one...which if you remember, left me with about $100 to my playing for the full next day.

I did win one game on day one...Fubar and I drank until we couldn't drink anymore, and from about 10am - 2am, we got smashed...I mean we got to the point where after 20-something drinks, our livers hurt...but heck, I felt good.

On Saturday, I decided I'd take the $40 in my pocket and play it on TRIPLE HOT 7's machines. Max play was 1.80, so I thought this wouldn't last long. Fu had been telling me he plays minimum bet on all lines (.09 per play) until he'd lost two in a row and then he'd bet five times bet, and he was only down $30 after the first day, so this seemed like a decent strategy, but I had to think up my own...so I decided to go 4 losses in a row and then bet max (thinking same logic, I guess...) Well, I hit...the first picture shows that...$145 on the max bet. I missed the progressive bet THREE TIMES on this machine (it paid out $22000 if you hit it by getting TRIPLE on top, middle, top). The rule we play by is if you hit something, you let the machine keep going til it stops...if you stop it, its bad juju, so we don't typically do that...so I started playing the machine right next to that one...I hit while the other was still paying for about $50... so that's $200 in winnings...

I continued to walk around these ten machines and win...so I decided to start playing other stuff...and drink at the same time (didn't matter how nauseous I was, I started winning and getting thirsty). I began to play things like more 3 card poker, and won about $100. As soon as I was up $100 on that, I left it. We were now at about 2pm, and I didn't want to stop playing, so we kept going...

I ended up for the day with $160 in my pocket...from $40...finally, the final day (drive back Sunday as I like to call it)...we checked out and I wanted to see if the TRIPLE DIAMOND machines would pay the same way the TRIPLE HOT SEVEN'S did...and it did...but I didn't go far on it, I got up another $75, and said "We're OUT!"

So overall, I think I was down about two hundred, but you can't discredit the fun. And the Trop finally started giving back again...so we'll go back up in August, and hopefully I won't lose everything there, because I have Vegas in September for work.

Hope everyone else had fun while I was gone...apparently the NYCC (New York Comicon) happened while I was up there, and I would've went had I know I was going to be up there already...oh well...

2-22-07: Atlantic City Here I come!

Or howsabout "Here I go again...here I go againnnnnnn...." Damn right, having the white snake blaring, waiting for Margaritaville and Roxanne to come on...In the age of Ipod (or Zune in my case) I have come to forget how EVERY time I went on a trip, I'd always here those two songs... Margaritaville and Roxanne...don't ask me why or how, but those two songs would always play at least once...and now, due to burning CDs and mp3 players taking up all the playtime, I had to place these two songs on here to make sure, that purely and randomly, that they MAY play, or they MAY NOT, but at least I'm giving myself the chance to hear both in this digitally created playpen.

So today is also my dog, LANDIS's birthday...She was born on 2-22-02, so I took that as a kind of sign or something...she's staying with grandma til the weekend so I can go about my three day vacation.

Speaking of which, Atlantic City tomorrow...whoooo! My wife is gracious enough to let me spend my winnings of Bodog and my winning of the SCARFACE contest at work (roughly $500 in winnings) this weekend as Fubar and I go for our semi-annual Atlantic City Excursion. We say we do it to NOT LOSE OUR COMP (rooms and money), but we do it to get away for three days, blow some cash and relax doing something we love...gamble...oh, and drink...heavily.

I think I've also decided that we are doing this NEXT for Dominic's Bachelor Party...though we may not go to Atlantic City, I'd like to...I'll run the idea by him, but if we can't get that, maybe the Cherokee casino in NC...(only two less hours of driving for that one).

Anyways, I just wanted to let everyone know that if you don't hear from me until next week, now you know why. Both Fubar and I will be bringing laptops with us to AC, but if I have to pay for internet then I'll just say screw it and only use it for directions and movie watching. Otherwise you may get updates on the weekend from us...who knows...

Now don't you all go yelling "good luck" to me...

2-19-07: My favorite upcoming page from THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES.

Hopefully JK is okay with me posting this image here on both blogs, because its just that classic silly cartoon moment, but it totally shows what type of story we're trying to tell for this story...

2-19-07: New art coming soon.

Today was the first day in a while I had been to my DEVIANTART.COM page, and well, I was not only surprised by the amount of people that had added pieces of my art to their favorites, but even a comment or two about some of the pieces. This kinda inspired me.

In the past 24 hours, I've done some sketches...one of Superman, and then one of a ninja turtle and one of Kratos from GOD OF WAR. I'm trying to incorporate some different feels to the art now, lots of sketching before putting in the finishing touch on the pieces.

I have always thought of myself as good with heads and faces, and my biggest struggles are with bodies and action sequences...hence why you don't see ME as the artist of a comic. I wish I had the talent of a Dave Lapham, or could even hack at the art side like Erik Larsen, but heck, one of these days I'll draw MY comic...that one that every artist has to set out to do...that end piece in their puzzle, so to speak.

I just figured I'd let everyone know that with that deviant art stuff, even though its old pieces on there currently, you can check it out at rpotchak.deviantart.com or one of these days I may even get around to adding a link...heh.

three days, three blogs, you guys should either be happy, or ready to tell me to shut up by this point.

2-18-07: New art from JK colored by RP

This is the original piece to the left, and below is the one I recolored. JK said he was having a rough time coming up with some drawings recently, so I wanted to let him know that I was working on some of his stuff to maybe make him happier :).

Because of that, I give you his Superman...followed by His and MY Superman. Yes, I went a little nuts.

2-18-07: ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES UPDATE and more.

Welcome to the second dual post blog from me, as I take you down the elevator that is www.ardyvanstarr.com and the comic it represents, The Ardy Vanstarr Adventures.

Last night, while on the computer, I realized that I had been slacking off while lettering and posting the pages because I can't keep my attention span on stuff I've "already written once." Re-typing something that I've already typed is kind of a pain in the ass, but a necessary pain in the ass.

JK had sent me the first 18 pages of TAVA, which look great. The first 6 or so can actually be seen over at the aforementioned site, "ardyvanstarr.com." It all revolves around a character that I created in 3rd grade named Ardy Vanstarr (this was 1986). We flash forward to about 1993, and Ardy gets his first real comic adventure, entitled City Of Illusion from Illusion Studios and 5th Panel Comics. Now though he had been seen in SCC Entertainment's Hit SCORN series in backup stories, he didn't get his first real role in a comic until 2003's LANDIS, where he played the Paranorm PI that he is today. Anyway, JK had sent over all 18 pages, and even added some scenes where there hadn't been any before, ala "the Marvel method" of plotting, then writing. I took this as a good challenge to get me to write more, and started looking at the script, and while going for a Noir'y feel, decided it was time to liven it up, move some stuff around and get to the meat of it.

One thing I've always been beat down for as a writer is being "Claremonty" which means putting way too many words into the work and not letting it do itself justice. Because of this, I decided to let some of it speak for itself where I'd normally add in a panel of writing, and have just kind of tried to give readers a feel for this guy...that he's not from here, so he finds some things funny we don't, he likes Back To The Future, and he gets his jobs done, no matter the risks.

Well, I've now gone ahead and re-written the first 18 pages, and they flow better, now. They've got a sci-fi, humor, noir feel, and that's how I like it. JK and I will be discussing a two-parter for the annual FREE Keenspot Primer, and try to introduce some characters there that will be showing up in TAVA later...that ought to be fun.

Also, I'm still talking with Blatant about the Dead Sonja sequel and will probably start penning it in the next two weeks or so...after that, I gotta start the alcohol self-assessment classes before July 1st, so...yikes.

2-17-07: Now posting the blog here and on MYSPACE...why? who knows?

Not really sure what made me decide I'm going to post the blog in two different places, but I figured what the hell, some people that read one won't read the other and vice versa. The more places you have something posted, the more likely it'll get read, I guess.

Tonight, I'm going to discuss something that is bothering the shit out of me...

Who has an ex? Now which of you has an ex that no matter how many times you've moved, changed your phone number, or even told them to get out of your life, they keep finding their way back in? Even if it means by stalking measures like looking your address up online, phone number, etc?

Well, lucky for me, it isn't MY ex I'm concerned with here. It's my wife's. A lot of people in Durham may remember good ol' Corey Sadler from the days that he lied about his education in order to get a job on the radio. That's right, I realize I put his real name here, but anyone that knows that my wife is my first "friend" on my Myspace page realizes that I'm an open book and my life can be found. It doesn't necessarily mean that I want everything coming out, but anyway.

So Christy tells me the other night that she received a birthday gift from Corey. Well, WHY was the first question. "Oh, we're still in touch through email and what have you, but he's married so you don't have to worry about him..." The next question was "HOW did he send you a birthday gift? He doesn't know where we live..."

"I didn't tell him." Okay, here's the problem. If my wife didn't tell her EX how to get to her house by NOT TELLING HIM the address, that means he's using extracirricular (sp) ways to find out information he should not be privy to.

The other problem I have with this asshole is the lie he leads with his wife. He constantly is sending my wife messages on myspace (her comments, I don't look at anything else on her site, I respect her privacy, even with all the BS of last year). Not just your normal "Hey, glad we know each other" messages, but the kind that make you wonder why he's with who he is..."You are the greatest, most special person I've ever met, and I feel honored to have ever been in your heart." or "You are the reason I am the me I am today..." kinda bullshit.

Now, I think its great that he thinks he found someone he can say that about...I'm just a little ticked off that it ISN'T HIS WIFE that he says that about...or does he tell every girl he's ever TRIED to get with the same thing?

Corey, I hope you read this...GO AWAY...LIVE YOUR LIFE and LEAVE US TO OURS...I am tired of you trying to be with my wife because you still miss something else that I realized and held onto.

I'm sorry your relationship with your wife can't be what mine is with mine...but I'm not sorry enough to let you get away with all this double talk to two women, and only one of which is YOUR wife...

Keep it up, we'll see where it gets everyone. Stop stalking my wife, and start applying your time to your relationship...if she married you, she deserves that effort you put in, trying to get Christy, and since Christy doesn't want that, start giving it to someone that obviously does.

Its no wonder we live in a society that constantly needs medication.

Next time, I promise something about comics.

2-14-07: Wrestlemania and my thoughts.

Y'know what's funny when it comes to Wrestlemania? When HHH went down with an injury, a buddy of mine, Tino, called me, and asked what I thought they should do, since the DX angle was pretty much toast...this was my response...

"Shawn Michaels should go after John Cena and the World Title..."
"Randy Orton and Edge should have the standard 'top heel' feud by one being jealous of the other and constantly trying to one up each other."
"Shawn Michaels should win the Royal Rumble, or get the RAW World Title Match"

Scary thing is...right on ALL Accounts.

I don't want everyone to think I'm making this up, this is what I said 24 hours after I heard of Triple H (HHH, Hunter Hearst Helmsley etc) injury to his quad that was going to keep him out of action for months...

EVERY piece of that is true...

Then, I get asked "who's going to win the superbowl?" Kno wwhat my response is? How about this...

"Here's a better one...First play from scrimage is a pass to Dallas Clark. Second play is a run from Addai...third is a dropped pass to Marvin Harrison...three plays later (at most) they are in the endzone to Reggie Wayne...and the first commercial will be BUD LIGHT."

Now in one instance...Ask Tino. I'll give you his number. In the second instance, ask my co-worker Drew, who asked me the night before. I also said I'd take the Colts by NINE...not the 7 they were favored by, but I said they wouldn't be at the 48.5 over/under.

Weird, huh? This is NOT made up, and this is 100% the truth.

Why am I saying this? Because everyone goes through hot spots. My buddy Fubar just hit on a $5 scratcher ticket for $700. Crazy thing is, next week we are going to AC (Atlantic City) for two days of gambling. Why? we enjoy it.

Anyway, this isn't a news filled spot or anything, but I thought it'd be fun to let everyone know of my most recent psychic moments...isn't it weird?

2/12/07: TAVA site update and my thoughts...

JK has placed the original files back on the site, so it is now showing the comic again, but not the counter. Its cool, though, we'll get it all sorted out, which is cool.

TAVA's first advertisement will show up on March 2nd, as well. I wanted the March 1st, but since its only TAVA's 1 month anniversary, compared to SUPEROSITY's 8th YEAR Anniversary, I thought that it'd be best to "not cross the boss" and make sure Chris gets to celebrate Superosity on it's birthday :).

Now the scary news. I've let JK know that I've fallen a little behind on lettering the pages for ARDY, and as scary as it sounds, as soon as I get the energy back to finish up to the first 18 full pages, I'll get it done so that we'll be far enough ahead for a bit.

We have until March 1st to get a two pager done for the KEENSPOT PRIMER for Free Comic Book Day again this year, so I've got to come up with one soon, so JK and I can get it in for the book. I don't want to cop out and just reprint last year's, either...soooo....

Also, some other news to note. I'm still pondering on Freddie Blatant's offer for me to write the Dead Sonja sequel, and I see no reason why I'd say no, besides the fact that I'm almost afraid I'll make less writing the sequel than I did on the first one (still waiting on the info from the payday, on that, too...but I'm not sweating it, as you no doubt could tell by all this now).

I also was given the file to be able to letter in the same style that was used for LANDIS...why?
Because if I can find 600 dpi black and white files for LANDIS, Chris Crosby and I have decided I'll finish lettering the story and we'll print what looks like it will be a 120 page version of the book. He wants to try to find a colorist, and if he can for the last part, then I will letter it and we'll do a full color book for like $19.95 for 120 pages...if however we can't find a colorist...(and can recover fhe non-colored files)...we'll go for a less expensive route on it. We both have agreed that LANDIS was a labor of love that deserves its original format...an actual book.

So with this, if ANYONE knows people that want to get their start in comic book coloring, let me know, I am sure some sort of payment can be made for it, as well as their name in the credits, obviously. The only down side is that we are looking for uniformity for the story's coloring, although I would totally let Owen have the pages back to see what else he'd like to add to them, if he wanted to.

So there you have it...all the projects I am currently working on...TAVA comes first, then DEAD SONJA and then finishing what started it all...LANDIS. Not to mention that although it is slow coming, Eric IS chugging away at TAGGER, the long awaited sequel of LANDIS, but with him working upwards of 85 hours a week, its not coming nearly as fast as either him nor myself would prefer. MAybe at some point he'll get a break, and we'll be able to work on some comics again :).

So again, if you know a colorist, one that hasn't worked in the field but would be willing to try, let me know.

Thanks.

2-10-07: Technical Difficulties.

JK and I can't figure out how to get the page running correctly, and unfortunately, I haven't had enough time on the computer recently to attempt to string together enough time to check it out.

Also, Freddie Blatant and myself are attempting to work out figures for the DEAD SONJA sequel, that he wants to call: DEAD SONJA VS. THE ARMY OF DARKNUTS and XXXENA... Darknuts instead of Darktwits...hmm...not sure, but again, we're trying to work out the figures to make it beneficial for everyone involved...though I'm sure something will come of it. But he has assured me he wants to give me a guaranteed payday on this one :).

Alright, I'll write more later, but for now, I gotta run.

2-7-07: Dissection of a comic page...

What've we got here? Well, we have page 9 of The Ardy Vanstarr Adventures...the first pic, we have the final page that YOU WILL SEE...on March 1st, 2007, what you see in the second pic was the original art for page 9...why the change?

I can't exactly say where an artist suddenly realizes that he doesn't like something he drew... Every artist goes through this...me more than others. I have also noticed that every artist has a tendency to never be 100% happy with ALL pages...so anyway, JK decided he didn't like the page and I told him I thought it looked good...

However, having now seen (and lettered, obviously) the NEW page 9 of the comic, I have to say that I am MUCH happier with the new page, much like JK himself. Originally thinking the newer cartoony look for Ardy wasn't necessarily the best move, I do see the reasoning behind it, and I am ecstatic to see how smoothly the character takes over the page when he's visible.

Even though we figured that any and every one of our readers would be intelligent enough to distinguish that the "planet" was Earth, we made the conscious decision to give you the real Earth to just make certain that passersby would realize it as well.

Also at first notice of this scene, Ardy in the top panel looked a little off...now, in the new one, he looks much better and tighter...JK even added more detail to his chest area, to show off the build.

Gotta say, the new page looks much better than the original...even without ANY changes to the layout.

2-4-07: Optimus Prime...the picture.

So Yahoo movies posted this pic on their Transformers movie information page, and well, its got to be Optimus Prime. Gotta say, he's a beast. I'm happy to see that they kept the faceplate recognizable even though the character otherwise is totally different, but what are you going to do? Structurally, its conceivable that the way the transformers looked and were as toys was NOT something that would translate well into a live action film...

Now with the information that the voices of Optimus Prime and Megatron will be played by the original voice actors, this fanboy can do nothing but give the film the attention it deserves.

I hope it plays out well, but then again, Bay hasn't dissappointed me...not even with the Island, I thought that film was terrific.

2-3-07: Post 365...TAVA BEGINS!

Alrighty, why's it sound like I'm just re-writing the same thing over? I guess I am, and I'm not. Recently, I've noticed that the blog gets more hits when I write more, but that's not why I'm posting this...

JK and I have set up the very basic www.ardyvanstarr.com site to go ahead and start, and don't worry, even though it looks like its not being updated, it is...the next update will be on 2-6-07, Tuesday, to keep with the Tuesday / Thursday update schedule.

In fact, by the end of tomorrow, I should have ALL of February's pages fully uploaded to the web for it, and some of March's. We've got the first 11 pages fully drawn, and I've uploaded the first six, so this is a really great piece of news...this means I know we won't miss an update in February UNLESS something happens to me, so please don't wish it so...

To celebrate the occassion, however, I'm going to make an offer to anyone that wants a piece of TAVA beginning's history...

I will print out on cardstock, autograph and head sketch Ardy on the original day's strip if anyone wants it. I will be offering them for $5 a piece if anyone wants one, to help pay for JK and Junior Bruce Productions art expenses and shipping.

JK and I HAVE started a new blog for TAVA, as well, which will be added to the comic page for commentary on daily pages and such, as well as allowing for comments to be added to everything...

Hopefully, by March 1st, Crosby and Keenspot will get us an ad to help push The Ardy Vanstarr Adventures to the masses. I know Chris reads this blog, so I'll say, "HEY CHRIS! How about March 1st's ad space? hehe..."

Thanks for reading!

1-31-07: Junior Bruce / Potsy - Megaton Man / Rubber Brother

Howdy again today...As I'm bored just typing words into existing comic pages, I have decided that at this very moment, I want to color something, so I took JK's drawing from his deviantart page (yourbuddybuddy.deviantart.com) and took his piece of Don Simpson's Megaton Man and Rubber Brother which he'd already colored, and then I decided I'd make my own additions to it...

Here's what I did. I did my typical attempt at creating a really bad third dimension in the coloring, and then changed some of the simpler color aspects he had on here, like now the gloves on Rubber Brother are brighter (almost fluorescent) green, and I changed the background from a dull orange to this really bright fluorescent fuscia looking color.

JK and I talked for like two hours tonight on the phone about the launch of The Ardy Vanstarr Adventures, as well, discussing how we want to add things to the website before it really gets going... does this mean I'm going to pull the 12:01 am launch? No way!

What it IS going to do though, is get us to where we want to be on the webpage design, but its going to take a bit before its exactly where we want it. So we'll still launch the comic, update it on Tuesday and Thursday, but its just going to be the simple comic to begin with. Both him and I will have to find time to add to the website design and get it to where we really want it to be...

We want it to include a gallery page, a page where you can commission either of us for art pages, character designs and bios, a blog to update progress and more, like the hit counter...

Don't expect a keenspot ad, yet for us. We probably are going to want a couple of weeks pages up before we do that, and I think we'll want the website how we want it before we advertise... but its coming...

1-31-07: ARDYVANSTARR.COM launches tomorrow!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Rob Potchak of Pots and Pans Ink and Junior Bruce Productions are proud to announce that www.ardyvanstarr.com (as well as its sister site, www.vanstarr.com) launch tomorrow, FEBRUARY 1st, 2007.

"We are extremely excited that the comic can finally start being seen, and though the Keenspot.com main page may not have a direct link to it, we wanted to start getting some pages seen by the masses in a way to guarantee that the project IS moving forward, even though the web page is very remedial at this point."

"Junior Bruce Productions will continue to work on both the art and the webpage for The Ardy Vanstarr Adventures, but we decided that NOW was the perfect time to launch the site because we feel confident that we will be able to maintain a Tuesday / Thursday update schedule for the foreseeable future. Our ultimate goal is to set up and maintain a lush website with galleries, character profiles and even creator commentaries, but the main content is going to be the most important thing as we start this venture."

"We believe that the fans will start reading this story, and as time goes on, we'll be able to deliver a truly unique webcomic experience. Both JK (the artist) and myself are behind this endeavor 100%, and are both excited to get everyone seeing our outlandish story from the beginning."

www.ardyvanstarr.com goes live at 12:01 am (PST) on 2/1/2007. Anyone looking for a new webcomic to try should check it out.

1-28-07: If you have Firefox, the site looks fine!

UPDATE to www.robpotchak.com... as of this very minute, the website is UP AND RUNNING, and if you have Firefox, it looks good...however, if you have IE, you still need to scroll to the right to see it...because of this, I'm going to say that FIREFOX is a MUCH BETTER web browser, and if you haven't tried it already, check out firefox.com since it truly is the better of the browsers (and only takes minutes to install).

Other news...expect Shawn Michaels to lobby a victory at the Royal Rumble...this MAY mean that he faces UMAGA as the world champ at Wrestlemania (BOO that "main event"), or the Undertaker, so that he can strictly go into WM against Batista for the championship, since it is almost guaranteed that Kennedy does not win.

also, Christy bought me the first season of Prison Break, and YES, I already know they aren't in prison anymore...BUT, its the first season I'm watching at this moment, and though its pretty predictable, it is pretty good...definitely better than Brett Ratner's OTHER project (cough...X-Men III, BOO), but not as good as 24 or HOUSE. However, I must say that similar to how their sister network hooked me with the SHIELD, RESCUE ME and NIP/TUCK... as well as enjoying THIEF, Fox is really ramping up their suspense thrillers...good for them!

finally, information about something those that HAVE checked out robpotchak.com have probably seen already...a logo for something called comicartjam.com... This is my answer to something JK (*******) has been trying to get me to do for about a year, now...joining a art club with critiquing art space...funny thing is, though, that I've decided I'm not just going to join one... I'm going to start one. I'm currently looking into bulletin boards with EASY pasting of art, and will be looking to post this bad boy soon...so yes, there's new stuff coming from me. I just completed a piece of THE PUNISHER, a couple SPIDER-MAN pieces and a little more.

Ooh, one more tidbit about ardyvanstarr.com... I currently believe as the chapters end, JK and I will be utilizing full color chapter covers...now I haven't really discussed it with him, but I like toying with coloring and all, so I think this is something that we'll get more into as we go along. Now, unfortunately these will take up one day's worth of updates, but it'll be more complete art, since it'll be colored...more on this after JK and I have discussed it fully...and if I start referring to JK as Junior Bruce, its because that's his only art alias, so please forgive for that if I forget to mention it.

1-27-07: WEB SITE...HELP!?!?!

Hello all...man I really wish this blogger would allow me to use fonts that I have on my computer rather than these silly and boring ones. I'm a comic writer, and I like seeing my written word in comic formats dammit...hehe.

Anyway, if you head over to robpotchak.com, you'll see where its now owned by someone...the sad thing is, to actually SEE the website, you have to scroll over to the right...as to why, I have NO EARTHLY IDEA...stupid godaddy.com. I decided it was time to try to get my name out there further by having a standard site that would attach all the comics, blog, store and whatnot but this trying to learn how to use ftps and shit is for the birds.

If ANYONE out there can help me specifically with moving the site to the left to get rid of that stupid godaddy.com shit, I'd appreciate it. Yes, I'm using their free webhosting but this is ridiculous.

Anywho, like I said, anyone who wants to get a sneak peek at the website, check it out...you may even see some stuff on there you didn't expect.

1-22-07: Rob Potchak draws TORCH.

Not the Human Torch, and not a stick with fire on it...

As a person who draws, I get asked a lot to draw characters I'm unfamiliar with. Today, I did it, but not because I wanted to draw a character that means nothing to me and I was just bored, no...I decided to draw Torch, a character that JK has created who will be appearing in The Ardy Vanstarr Adventures as Ardy's sidekick and plucky comic relief (when JK lets me write bad jokes into the script, hehe).

I decided that since JK also tells me that I need to do COMPLETE art when I draw, that I would also color the piece in a very 1980's VGA / my airbrush style. I think that if JK had created Torch and got a game deal back in the early 90's, it would've looked like this...hehe.

I also made him a little bit bigger than JK does, but kept him a small size in stature because I think it fits the character... anyway, let me know what you think.

1-21-07: Day Job Blues.

JK has recently been hit with a set of the DAY JOB BLUES, meaning lots of overtime, lot less sleep, and next to no time to draw. This IS putting a damper in the art production of TAVA, but I wanted to let everyone know that he'll be working on a build for the webpage this weekend, so hopefully, though initially the design will be very basic, we're hoping that we get it running with oriignal content soon, and then the comic shortly thereafter.

Right now, if you go to ardyvanstarr.com or vanstarr.com you'll be linked to an even more basic site for KEENSPOT's basis, but the sites are online...we again will have stuff popping up soon.

Keep the faith, true believers...we WILL have original content soon.

Any other Wrestling fan realized there is NO reason to watch WWE product anymore? Yeah, me too...bored with it...and that's fine, but I really wish they'd move TNA to two hours on Thursday...its finally getting some momentum.

In today's football games, I'll take the Colts and the Saints...why? Because I think they are the better teams. If the Saints get out to a 14 point lead, the Bears are done...if the game's close, it could go either way...but I'll take the Saints in it.

1-12-07: Because *I* Demanded it...NEW T-SHIRTS!

The original ringer is still available a the store...I just couldn't bring myself to tear it down...I just love that design so much...$14.99

It can be found here:

www.cafepress.com/potchak.48166521

The new Ash Grey shirt can be found here...$14.99

http://www.cafepress.com/potchak.100204727

And finally, the new VALUE T-shirt (only $9.99) is located here:

http://www.cafepress.com/potchak.100207189

Please help support the "Rob Potchak needs to pay his mortgage" fund...kidding. I actually jest there, but these are pretty cool shirt designs. Oh, and HALF of any profit goes to the starving artist, JK Radtke...its just too bad I've priced these shirts so there is NO PROFIT on them... and remember pricing is set by Cafepress.com, otherwise I'd try to be even cheaper.

1-12-07: Another TAVA Promo piece

Alrighty, this one is actually a piece that was originally colored by JK himself *first image you see, should be top left, though is definitely the first pic*, and then what I like to call an "ENHANCED" version with computer coloring by me. To me it seems like it adds another dimension to the coloring and to the piece itself.

I wasn't even going to toy around with this, but JK said that he liked the coloring on the last piece I did a lot, so I decided to toy a bit more. I tried to add a roundness to Torch...oh...hold on...

Torch is a character that will DEFINITELY be appearing in TAVA, and though its pretty much agreed that the story will continue to be called (just) THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES, Torch will probably be showing up just as often as our giant yellow bastard himself in more of a sidekick role. He's created and owned by JK, and there are some good jokes about a troll with his head on fire, hehe...

Well, maybe one more piece before the end of the night (doubtful), but I actually did draw Ardy myself for the first time in a long while. I'm starting to take the "How to draw THE THING" (from Marvel) approach with him...what do I mean by that? He's not normal shaped... hes shaped more like a giant starfish. oh well :)....

1-11-07: The Ardy Vanstarr Adventures Promo art piece...

Hey all, to the left is my attempts at coloring in a would be "airbrushing" look at Ardy for the upcoming THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES by myself and JK Radke.

I've been lettering the pages as JK gets them to me and I think this is going to be the next T-Shirt on the Cafepress site...which I know I haven't added anything in a while, but this looks like if could make a great ringer tee, so who knows.

As many of you that picked up the Keenspot FCBD book this year can see, Ardy is even more cartoony than he has been even in the past, but I think its a very cool way to go with him, since it fits his character.

You may start seeing more of the TM and (C) info on the art that I post, since I don't want it being copied, or reprinted without the proper credentials.

I may see if Chris wants to slap this onto the ARDYVANSTARR.COM site with a COMING SOON logo on it.

ALSO, a quick little LANDIS note...Crosby will be sending me the pages for which to get them lettered (or re-lettered) so that we can move ahead with the printing on it. I'm hoping he still has uncolored LINE ART from the story as I think we are going to go ahead with a black and white printing of it first as a 96 page graphic novel, however, they page count is undetermined at this moment.

Let me know what you think of this piece, and take care all!

1-8-07: TAVA updates, Civil War thoughts, more...

As everyone who reads this knows, I am not only a writer and amateur artist, but an avid reader of comics, and I must say that while other reviewers have disagreed with the turmoil that the Marvel Universe is in is bad, I look at it and go, "Thank GOD! Someone is finally making it INTERESTING again!" Let me remind you all of my background on this subject...the very first arc of LANDIS ended...that's right, ENDED with the destruction of the world as we know it... why? Because COMICS ARE FANTASY...I agree with a lot of what Mark Millar has written with his reconstruction of the Marvel Universe in these "You don't always know your enemy by what country they live in" times...and finally, someone complained on Newsarama (their weekly reviews) about how Stephen Strange looks bad by "not ending the war with a whisper," and how bad that looks...can't you tell that this is an obvious swipe at the GIP of a crossover and BS that was House of M? C'mon, folks, Millar and Bendis may be great friends, but everyone knows bogus when they read it...anyway, love it, and I want a CIVIL WAR POSTER BOOK from Steve McNiven...this stuff is phenomenal...which is why any time I find some original art from him, I snatch it up.

Okay...TAVA update...that's THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES to those without a working frontal lobe...ha, I gest. JK has sent me layouts for the first 18 pages...as soon as he blows them up, inks them and sends them to me to begin the lettering process we'll be ready to launch. Well, that and a webpage...anybody know someone that's looking to design a webpage for free, but with unlimited advertising potential that WILL reach thousands of people the day it launches? if so, contact me at RPOTCHAK@GMAIL.COM.

I'm 52 hours into ZELDA, so I haven't been doing much else, and Thursday, I begin community service...wahoo...Oh, and one last piece of info.

I'm in discussions with a cover artist of ARMY OF DARKNESS to possibly draw the main cover for Dead Sonja vs. The Army of Darktwits. I think he's one of the best guys out there and he's even drawn Ardy in the past...now if he could help me get a well-paying gig, hehe. More on this if and when we get the go-ahead.

1-4-07: THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES...SOON!

Hey all...I know I've been flapping my gums about Notre Dame football (sad ending to our good season), and discussing things like the Playstation 3 vs. the XBox360, but I think the time has come to update everyone on a serious piece of info...

THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES.

We haven't heard me make too many mentions of it recently, because there were setbacks aplenty, and there may still be again, but the truth behind the series is that IT IS COMING. JK and I want to launch it before the end of January because we've been taking our time with it, he's been re-drawing pages that I thought looked great, and we'll be getting it all re-lettered and ready to rock. Truth be told, I am uber excited about this story finally seeing the light of day, at least the first story, and we'll be bringing it to you on what we hope will be a Tuesday/Thursday update schedule...at least at the beginning.

One thing I don't think we'll be able to deliver is full color, but a lot of good online comics maintain their highquality standards even without being in color (look at everythingjake.com as a great example, and a good plug for my boy Mike Rosenzweig).

I say we want to get it running by the end of the month because we both have dayjobs, we both have a lot on our plates, but overall, we want to deliver the goods, baby...

No promises, just a firm belief we'll be able to hit the launch window, so we can get this bacon to start frying.

Oh, and HAPPY NEW YEAR.

12-30-06: Who thought *I* would be on James (THE CROW) O'Barr's website?!

Just found this pic of me, and thought it was really cool...its from Heroes Con this year after I got James O'Barr to draw LANDIS in his sketchbook for me...(taken from http://www.jamesobarr.net/gallery.asp?page=2&id=24&cat=6)

12-30-06: And Inside look at where the PS3 will WIN and LOSE the wars...

Don't you find it interesting that people are shunning the $600 (or $500 if you are cheap) pricetag of the PS3, and they are wondering why it costs so much? What I am going to do is take a look at where the PS3 is in contrast to the X-Box 360 one month after launch and then give my inside opinions on where they will Pass and Fail respectively, and why...be prepared, however, since this blog will DEFINITELY contain a history lesson...

Let's start with what we know about the videogame industry since Playstation 2 and X-Box launched.

When PS2 launched, it was all alone on top of the industry with no end in sight, and why? There was no competition, and there was no X-Box. The pricetag was $299.99 and this was at the time the least expensive DVD player on the market (now for $129.99 it is one of the more expensive ones). Two major directors VOWED to NEVER place their movies on DVD before this launch, and their names just happen to be Spielberg and Lucas.

One year later, Microsoft is determined to beat Sony in the gaming world, launching their own massive box, at exactly the same pricepoint. The only problem is, that at this point, videogame store walls are covered with about 120 titles of PS2 materials, and we are still seeing PS1 games made at this point that play on the PS2. Microsoft NEVER catches Sony, and never is accepted in Japan.

The big thing to recall here is that Sony REMAINED at 299.99...but now, with the massive amounts of units available, and the large library, those two movie directors started noticing that A LOT of people had DVD players in homes now...hmm....

Sony wins this round, no doubt about it. Games like Final Fantasy and Metal Gear Solid (sure #2 finally made its way to Xbox, but come on, they never got to see #3), not to mention the year waits between getting to play Grand Theft Autos finally made people realize that the PS2 was the leader, and it didn't matter that the X-Box was a BETTER GAMING SYSTEM...if you don't agree, shut up, you are probably also the person that will then say, "But I miss my Dreamcast..." which proves my point...sometimes the best system does NOT win...or last.

Now that the history lesson is done, let's weigh the systems.

XBOX 360 PRO (launches November 2005) - $399.99
The core system was ONLY launched at 299.99 because Microsoft was afraid that NO ONE would forgive them for NOT hitting the 299.99 pricepoint of the prior generation, and is simply put...A FOOLS BARGAIN...its perfect if you are buying a gift, but if you are buying it for yourself, don't be an imbecile...buy the pro system...its $200 of accessories that YOU WILL BUY.

HD CABLES INCLUDED
HEADSET INCLUDED
ETHERNET CABLE INCLUDED
WIRELESS CONTROLLER INCLUDED
HARDDRIVE INCLUDED (20gb)

Does it go above and beyond in technology, nah...but does it need to? No...it utilizes TRIED AND TRUE mentality inside a nicely sculpted box...

By November 2006...160 games in the library...ALL IN HD, and ALL IN DOLBY PRO-LOGIC. Total video output suport...as of November 12th...1080P...that's right, P, not I as it was when the system launched...why is this important? Sony announced they were the only one capable of it.

November 2006 marks the launch of the PS3...Top Pricepoint 599.99...

Yikes...let's look back at that history lesson...Ps2 led and had the same price...XBox360 was now out, had 140 more games available AND ...AND...AND...a $200 pricebreak...IF you didn't want HD MOVIES available.

This is where the PS3 will fail...on the gaming end. Sure, it'll still be there at the end of this generation, and it is because the longstanding name both here and in Japan. But it won't be #1 this generation, and will probably send Sony back to the drawing board faster because of the fall to #2...a strategy that hurts everyone from Sony to us, the consumers.

alright, now lets look at the 599.99 system...

60gb Harddrive
WiFi enabled AND ethernet available
standard video cables included
memory card reader (SD, Memory Stick Duo and Compact Flash)
One wireless controller on one of the 7 BLUETOOTH channels
BLU-RAY video player
1080P resolution and 7.1 Digital Sound capable.

Okay, so for 599.99, you get one controller in the box, and one USB cable...but y'know what sucks? You have to BUY an HDMI cable to get 1080P resolution ($79.99), you have to buy a headset (Bluetooth, good headset...79.99) and if you need ethernet, add another $30 for that.
So literally another $200 in accessories to give you everything Microsoft has out of box... that's crazy...so sure, you can pay $50 a year for Xbox live, and pay $200 for the HD-DVD drive, but that's STILL LESS for everything...DON'T LET SONY FOOL YOU!

Okay...I've give you enough crap as to where Sony will fail, or IS ALREADY FAILING, and let's get to the last one...

BLU-RAY DISCS...OWNED BY SONY...PROPRIETARY SOFTWARE FORMAT...ARGH! Not another Sony Proprietary software piece...can we look at ALL THE FAILED ONES from the past? SURE...Betamax. DEAD. Mini-Disc. DEAD. UMD...might as well be DEAD. And finally, Blu-Ray...hm...

Anyone who says it will fail specifically because its a Sony Proprietary Software method may be onto something, but with me...I'm not so hard to judge, and let me explain...

Here's where Blu-Ray will FORCE success...

Right now, the Playstation 3 is the LEAST EXPENSIVE option for a Blu-Ray player, which shows very similar to that last DVD thingee...the PS2...But that's not why it'll succeed, its only something that someone with the HDTV and surround sound system will use to help justify the system to their wives, but it in no way is what will help it succeed.

Raw Numbers will. Think about this. Let's say Sony's sales EQUAL Microsoft from the 360 to the PS3 in their first years respectively...this would mean that there would be about 10million or so PS3's IN HOMES as early as the end of December 2007. Do you know what this means?

IF THAT WERE THE CASE...THERE WOULD BE 10 MILLION BLU-RAY PLAYERS IN HOMES ALREADY...

Let's be more realistic, however. Let's say 6 million by the end of business on December 31st, 2007...almost exactly one year from today...Blu-Ray would OWN the market. There'd be no choice at that point. And you can't argue that both would make it...the ONLY way that's going to happen is if Phillips patented disc that allows DVD/HDDVD/BLU-RAY all on one disc starts making its way to mainstream market AT A REASONABLE VALUE.

So there you have it folks, sure, it wasn't all the numbers I probably made it sound like it was going to be, but it is the cold hard truth...360 will win the game war this time, but I think if Sony can keep getting PS3s into homes, you will have a BLU-RAY player if you want HD movies...

What does everyone else think? Are my arguments valid?

12-25-06: Christmas and a ZUNE plug

Hello all you readers out there. I want to throw another shout out to Roscoe for reviewing DEAD SONJA and by placing a comment on the last DEAD SONJA blog entry, because it really touched me and made me feel great about what I wrote...it truly helped me realize that real readers will be inspired from such writings.

Now, subject matter. Want to throw a note out there to everyone that hasn't been able to get in touch with me recently...please, don't take it personally, I've been sick since my birthday (Friday) and can't seem to get well, and with no other days off from the day job this week, I have to take every real spare moment I have to sleep and rest. I haven't been this sick in a long time.

Alright, now to what I got for Christmas.

My mom and dad actually gave me THE ABSOLUTE SANDMAN VOL. 1 from DC comics...now this is great, because its one of the Absolutes I did NOT have since I started collecting them (I started with Batman: Hush), but this was one of the two I did not get recently (NEW FRONTIER being the other). It is an omnibus style oversized hardcover that clocks in at about 650 pages. It contains the first 20 issues of Neil Gaiman's series and the first 18 of which are completely recolored from Gaiman's personal notes. It also includes the entire script and sketches from #19, as well as an intro by DC Publisher, Paul Levitz and the entire premise for the series written by Gaiman that led to the series...this is a treasure for any true comic fan.

The parents also gave my wife and myself money for assorted needs.

I received quite a bit in giftcards from both sisters and their husbands, so that ought to help supply me somewhere...my brother and my wife's brother gave me FAMILY GUY and RED STEEL respectively (haven't played either)...Christy's aunt gave us a tv stand for the bedroom and her parents gave me some candy, some nicknacks, and then some really cool stuff... a Notre Dame placemat for outside, as well as..,oh yeah...THE GREEN BRADY QUINN jersey. Here's hoping that Jimmy Clausen decides that #10 is the number he's gonna want to wear.

Christy, not to be outdone gave me a kit of goodies for my nintendo ds lite with like 10 accessories in it, the first season of Prison Break from Brett Ratner, the second season of Entourage and then...the motherload...the ULTIMATE SUPERMAN COLLECTION...

This baby has it all. SUPERMAN...SUPERMAN THE EXPANDED CUT...SUPERMAN II...SUPERMAN II THE RICHARD DONNER CUT...SUPERMAN III...SUPERMAN IV...SUPERMAN RETURNS and then like 8 other discs...this thing is HUUUUUGE! It's awesome and just what I wanted!

Don't you love when you get exactly what you ask for?

Alright, and now my ZUNE plug. Ever since I received the Zune from Microsoft...no check that, ever since I heard about this product from Microsoft, I've thought its better than your standard iPod...now, please, don't tell my wife, because I gave her a NANO for Christmas, but this Zune... wow. Let's just talk about the features.

30 GIGS...yikes, that a lot of space. That's 1/7 of my harddrive.
music, pics and video...too many possibilities.
NO COMPRESSION and TV OUT...this means just hook up the right cable and watch your videos on your tv!
WIFI...streaming baby!
FM tuner BUILT IN!
and finally...$15 a month for UNLIMITED DOWNLOADS...are they crazy?! That's like only 15 songs from iTunes...

Guys, seriously...with everything this product has to offer, if you are considering an mp3/mp4 player, don't just go with #1 because it says its the best...do your research...I'm beginning to think this thing IS the best...

Well, g'night, all...I have to be up at 5:30 am, so I want you all to enjoy the rest of your holiday... I have to prepare for the nightmare that is the day after christmas.

Rob

12-25-06: Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas

Hello all, and as said in the post...Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas.

I'll probably post a personal update later, but just wanted to make sure everyone has a safe and healthy holiday!

Rob

12-17-06: Critics and artists agree, DEAD SONJA IS A HIT!

Hey everyone, I figured I'd look up to see if people have been reviewing the parody DEAD SONJA: SHE-ZOMBIE WITH A SWORD, and I figured I'd post up some places I saw online reviewing it...

http://arellis49.livejournal.com/275860.html - Roscoe Ellis' livejournal where he said, "I'll give this delightfully delicious parody the review it deserves," and here's the actual breakdown from him...

http://www.arellis.net/roscoescomics/index.php/archives/category/dead-sonja/

I'll let Freddie J go after him for using full page scans and delivering too much of the plot, but I'll accept the positive review :).

The art you see is the "DEAD SEXY" version of the cover, from Remy "Eisu" Mokhtar, also the artist of part three, and here's a link to what he had to say about the story and everyone else's opinions as well...http://darkkof.livejournal.com/119960.html It gets noted that I am the sole writer later in what they say, but it's cool! I'm just glad to have worked with three ULTRA TALENTED ARTISTS!

My old buddies at Broken Frontier actually posted this bit:

• Dead Sonja: She Zombie with a Sword #1: Sword and sorcery comics are making a comeback, especially Robert E. Howard-based characters such as Conan and Red Sonja. Another popular genre that has gained popularity in more than one medium is the Zombie Story. Both story types are ripe for parody. But what do you do if you don’t have time to poke fun at each one individually?

If you’re like Owen Gieni and Robert Blatant, you combine the two and come up with Dead Sonja. Yes, it’s a zombie version of Red Sonja. Is it unique? That would depend on the execution. If it’s successful, does this mean we will see more zombie parodies in our future? Quite possibly. Use that as a determination on whether or not you want to buy this book.
Owen Gieni (W), Robert Blatant & various (A), Blatant Comics, $9.99. One-shot

Now, unfortunately, they didn't make mention of me being a writer on the book, but alas, its publicity for the title.

"Dead Sonja She Zombie With a Sword is just begging to be read... along with Zombies VS. Robots. " - From a poster on SILVERBULLETCOMICS.com

Hey, I also get blasted in LASVEGASWEEKLY.com....

"Dead Sonja, She-Zombie With a Sword No. 1 Blatant Comics
Writer Rob Potchak Jr. and publisher Blatant Comics get plenty of points for marketing genius, coming up with one of the best and most inspired titles for a comic book this year, and one that pretty much sums up the current state of the industry's mainstream. But then they lose those points and more for delivering a dreadfully unfunny and occasionally even shockingly offensive parody story.
The book takes zombie comics and barbarian comics, the two most popular non-superhero genres of the moment, and squishes them together into a book whose title is a clever rhyming riff on Red Sonja, whose current publishers no doubt wish they had thought of making a book by this title first.
But much like the already forgotten movie Snakes on a Plane, the title is the best part of the experience, and once you get past that, it's all downhill. "

But hell, at least they got my name right :). As to what this writer found OFFENSIVE... well, we cut out all those parts, so giminy...what book did they read?

And now finally one last bad review...

Dead Sonja, She-Zombie with a Sword #1 (Blatant Comics) Well, it had to happen sooner or later, didn’t it? I’m sure Dynamite Comics, who currently own the rights on Red Sonja comics and sell plenty of zombie-related comics due to their rights on Army of Darkness comics are kicking themselves for not thinking of this first. Hell, I know I am, and I don’t even own a comic book company. Writer Rob Potchak Jr. and Blatant certainly get props for coming up with a genius idea and title, but there’s nothing inside the book as remotely clever or well executed as the title, logo and covers (they even have several variant covers, ala Dynamite’s Red Sonja books). The black and white art, by Owen Gieni, Ap. Furtado and Remy “Eisu” Mokhtar (that’s Eisu’s cover pictured) is all decent, and done in a fun, loose style, but few of the jokes are very funny. Of course, seeing as the sixth page of this 48-page comic includes a rape-related joke, it’s hard to find anything that follows even remotely chuckle worthy, as that’s a pretty reprehensible thing to include in any story, let alone one as unserious as this.

and now a rebuttal...

Does anyone realize that I DOWNPLAYED the "rape" scene as much as one can DUE TO THE FACT THAT IT IS INSTRUMENTAL IN WHO RED SONJA *NOT THE PARODY CHARACTER, BUT THE REAL CHARACTER* is...? My god, folks...I stayed TRUE to the origin... was it a poor choice? No. It was integral in what makes the character. It seems obvious that the offensiveness spoken of from a city that PROSTITUTION is LEGAL is bogus, and unfounded. It is downright deplorable when you stay true to a character's origin and get blasted for it. Good thing these sites aren't reputable...hehe.

BACK TO GOOD REVIEWS!

"Dead Sonja, She-Zombie with a Sword: This is a black-and-white, 48 page indie book parody that is just incredibly funny. Witness, for instance, Zombie Sonja killing an enemy by crushing him between her breasts." - http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=69130039 - Eric at Myspace.com

Well, this post has gone on long, and it seems only the people that really matter (FANS OF COMICS WITH A SENSE OF HUMOR) have enjoyed the book, but hell, I don't care...when I get placement next to Jeph Loeb and Darwin Cooke in lasvegasweekly.com, I'll take that as a positive...

12-16-06: Cool art and some other things going on...

So some really bad movie, called DEAD AND DEADER starring Dean (Superman) Cain is on in the background tonight, so you'll have to forgive me if I start rambling about horrible movies outta nowhere tonight.

I finished the 20 pages of HALLO! that I committed to earlier this week and have sent it to Freddie J Blatant III for approval. Its good enough work, and something that anyone who enjoyed Dead Sonja would like...and I've heard there are quite a few of you...heck, at my comic store, I noticed they ordered about 25 copies, and it is almost sold out, so this is a great sign.

Every so often, I get this urge to just get into a story, and with the positive praise that Dead Sonja has been receiving, I have begun writing the book I want to do next...DEAD SONJA VS. THE ARMY OF DARKTWITS. The first ten pages (or so) are to introduce the Army of Darktwits since we haven't seen them, yet, the next portion would be how he gets introduced to Dead Sonja...then it would be their big fight...then they clear up any misconception and fight a common foe...wow, sounds like a full blown crossover, huh? Mostly, except, make sure you add in Victoria's Secret's catalogs, really stupid zombies and a three legged horse (with a dangling eyeball) and you have the most insane crossover since ROBOT vs. MONKEY...or whatever that one book was called.

I'm really excited about the idea of this book, so please, write on the LANDIS board that YOU WANT ARMY OF DARKTWITS, and maybe someone will finally cave in and give me the book I want to write :).

Oh, also...tonight, something a little different. I am posting a piece of art by Ryan Benjamin from the upcoming GRIFTER/MIDNIGHTER miniseries, an dI have to say, if the art for the book looks as good as this cover image, it is going to be a must have....so I figured he probably wouldn't mind the plug on the art and book...

12/13/06: Dead Sexy...

Hello! Welcome to yet another one of these great days that I like to call, "A day without a day job..." That's right, I'm off from work, have told my assistant manager to NOT call me and have literally shunned myself away from the store...why? I don't want to think about it, and I'm not going to.

Today, I received copies of DEAD SONJA #1 from the publisher, and I have to say, I'm still really impressed with the book, and I'm even MORE impressed that they sent me 15 of the 400 limited edition copies...which I am trying to think of what to do with them.

I have discussed with Owen Gieni's collaborator, Chris Crosby, about offering the book on their website, somethumbsonline.com as a way to try to get people to see that as much as Owen likes drawing cutesy characters, he can draw one hell of a zombie, as well.

I've also offered to Chris to letter the remaining pages of LANDIS, so that we may yet see it in print form, since I'd like to start passing around a movie treatment, and I think the book in graphic novel format would help solidify us trying to sell a real project. I know some online comics have made it bigtime and even signed tv deals, but most of us get laughed at and worked over for trying to claim we're just as popular as the big boys in print.

Oh...before I forget...its PLUG time. Ryan Stegman, former artist linked to a title called LANDIS (originally scheduled to draw issues 5-7 of the series), has made his way to big and better things. He started working with Chuck Saterlee and Markosia last year, but this year, when he started drawing a title for the Dabel Brothers (Magician's Apprentice), I bet he never thought he'd be working indirectly for Marvel. Well, with Dabel's new agreement to print their books through Marvel, Ryan now technically works for them. I think this is great news for him, as it is definitely one of his dreams. And don't let him say he was never drawing Landis, either, because I've seen the pages...hehe. Congrats dude, you worked hard, got yourself to the speed and quality you needed to, and now you are there!

Achem...time for you to tell them about your friend who you think is a diamond in the rough writer, hehe...kidding!

Suggestions on what I should do with the copies of Dead Sonja?

12/9/06: Stop asking if we have it in stock...

Heh. Yeah, that's how I feel, but I don't get to say it to customers about the Wii or the Playstation 3. Our Corporate Offices have actually told us that we can tell people not to call because we won't have them by the time they drive to the store, which has alleviated some call volume, but for crying out loud, call volume is at like 300 calls a day now, and when we get them, we'll get like 3...so fat chance trying to get one, y'know?

So on the comic update thing, JK and I are talking about launching THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES sometime in January, and though he kind of wants to change the name, I like the long extensiveness of it, and think that it'll remain that long title, since calling it something simple like VANSTARR would be too cliche for me, since my other title is named directly after the last name of my other character. However, I've always wanted to call a series, ARDY, so who knows, we may yet do that.

Also, I'm currently writing the first portion of a HALO parody called HALLO! which is about a guy by the name of MASTER CHEF works on a cooking show for The United Planets Network (UPN) and it gets bought out by the COVENANT WORLDWIDE (CW). I'll leave the story there for now, don't want to give too much away, but needless to say, its a pretty fun story so far. Look for it to be a 64 page graphic novel due in the first quarter next year...

More Dead Sonja? Maybe. Right now, I'm lobbying to get Freddie Blatant III to actually publish a sequel to the hit oneshot, DEAD SONJA: SHE-ZOMBIE WITH A SWORD... and I'm really trying to get Blatant to let me do the DEAD SONJA VS. ARMY OF DARKTWITS story that I really want to write. I'd say we may see something like this in June ish, if they'll give it the greenlight.

Oh, BTW, DEAD SONJA #1 has been doing pretty darn well in the review department...at least with whom I've asked from the local shops. No real written reviews from any reputable places, but I'm proud of what I wrote, and I believe all those artists are really proud of what they drew, since I think its one of the best LOOKING parodies ever drawn.