Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Post 235 is ME wearing the new Ardy Ringer T. I love these shirts, and I just wanted everyone to see that this shirt IS really slick. Posted by Picasa

Post 234: NEW Millennium...Falcon...shirt.

NEW T-Shirt Design. This one is sure to please STAR WARS fans. Now you can own the t-shirt that says it all.

Going with a piece of the ARDY script, a phrase that he says in an upcoming piece, I'm pleased to announce the "No I will NOT fix your Millenium Falcon." Black T-shirt. The art is seen below and the shirt is available through CafePress.com/Potchak. This is perfect for anyone that is looking for that PERFECT Force Fan gift. You could just imagine Chewy wearing this thing. Or R2D2. Anyway, I thought it was a nice fun play on the original, "No I will not fix your computer." shirt. Posted by Picasa


Cafe Press Pots and Pans Ink Store - "No I will not fix your Millenium Falcon" T-shirt.

Monday, February 27, 2006

Below is the cover for the first issue of THIEF from Eric. This will probably be the #0 cover, and I have to say, the man has been working out those comic chops.

Originally, the series was going to be in black and white with color covers and be in a cartoony style, but Eric has been taking a lot more time on the pages AND covers to show that he just wants to make this his trial book for something or someone bigger, like Marvel.

Right now, I believe he's putting the final pencils to issue #2 (so that's 0, 1, and 2) so I'm still about one full script up on him. Hopefully I'll be able to pick the series back up and surprise him with as good of an ending as it began. Posted by Picasa

Saturday, February 25, 2006

Post 232: What a week...yikes.

Let's start with the good and roll into the terrible. ALSO, go to the LANDIS forum and SIGN UP FOR THE CONTEST! Only 25000 more hits...we could hit that THIS WEEK!

The New ARDY T-shirt I friggin love this thing. Its too bad nobody wants to order this, hehe. I just got mine (paid the same as everyone else will) and it is REALLY a slick shirt. I'm VERY happy with the design from JK and the color scheme by me. I'll see about putting a picture of it on here.

cafepress.com/potchak

Contract Signed JK and I are now exclusive with Keenspot starting with the tenth anniversary ARDY: CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS The Director's Cut. I've finished the first 48 pages of script and JK says that he's drawing like a man possessed. I've been playing with colors, but I think JK and I are going to do the story in grays with added color where it makes sense. This way we'll be able to keep up with the rigorous schedule better.

X Box 360 Yes, I finally got one. I have to say, though the game selection currently is not where it needs to be, this thing is sick.

Speaking of sick...

Rob is sick I've been sick now all week, and even got pink eye after having an upper sinus infection. NOT GOOD. I also missed my first day of work like EVER due to illness. I was supposed to drive to Charlotte (about 2.5 hrs away) for a training on Weds, and was unable to attend due to this stuff.

My wife's grandad is sick. He just had surgery for lung cancer. I've only met him twice, and I'm sorry I've not gotten to see them more often. I'm super happy he was able to make it to our wedding, though.

My brother is in trouble. I'll put it like this...don't drink and drive. It's a rule to live by that if you don't, it'll catch up to you eventually.

That's about the extent of my week. If I remember anything else from it, I'll make sure to spill my guts here. I've begun working on a homepage, but I have no idea how to post it to a site or anything. If anyone has any info let me know.

Sunday, February 19, 2006

Post 231: REALLY LIMITED TIME ONLY OFFER!

Hey all,

For the next week (or so), the brand new ARDY Shirts are going to be NO MARK UP at the Pots and Pans Ink Store! I'm doing this as an introductory offer, since when you add the shipping cost to it, it means paying around $19 for a t-shirt, which is not cheap, but since I own one of the last Ardy shirts I create, I can tell you, they are pretty good quality...

ALSO:

A NEW CONTEST! Landis is less than 50k in page views to the magical ONE MILLION HITS mark! Considering its only taken 3 months to hit the second 1/2 million, I decided I'd throw a contest!

I have ordered ONE of the ORIGINAL PRINTS from Owen's art, and will be GIVING it to one lucky winner. The rules are simple. Between NOW and the day not too long from now when Landis hits #1million, anyone who posts something in the LANDIS FORUM (link at TOP of elisalandis.com main page)will automatically be entered and have a chance to win the print. The print will also be autographed by me, and even have a sketch on it. It will be a ONE OF A KIND collectable! The only thing I ask is that whoever wins send me a digital cam pic of them with the piece, so that it can be shown on the website.

Its that simple! Good luck. Odds of winning are dependant on how many people try to play!

Saturday, February 18, 2006

Post 230: The REAL new shirt design!

http://www.cafepress.com/potchak.48166521 <--New shirt design available for order HERE. Is it a little pricey? I guess, but being the fan of ringer shirts that I am, I purchased one today because I'm proud of the design.

As you can probably tell with the art, here, we're going for a mix between flashy and really towards animated/celshaded art for TAVA.

What I was trying to accomplish with this was something that could look cool on a t-shirt, or even the main page of a website. JK told me he liked the shaded look I went with and although that logo looks a lot like a cheesy sandwich, I definitely gets the point across for what it is for. Although the t-shirt design that's currently at the store is NOT this one, I'll probably be switching to this, since I really like it. Anyone have an opinion about it?

 Posted by Picasa

Post 229: New T-Shirt Available!

www.cafepress.com/potchak

The above link is for the LANDIS and ARDY store, and has been streamlined, with only VERY few products being offered. The latest is a "The Ardy Vanstarr Adventures" Ringer Tee, drawn by JK Radtke and colored by Rob Potchak (me, heh). I will probably NOT have it available for a long time, and I will be ordering one and probably placing a picture of me wearing it on here.

Later today I'll probably post a picture of the design here, but I'm at work currently, and don't have access to adding pictures here.

Thursday, February 16, 2006

Well, Here's the first page of the two-pager that JK and I have done for FCBD for Keenspot, and will officially be the first part of the NEW Ardy Vanstarr Adventures comic. I'm not sure if we intend to REPOST it online for everyone to see when we've got everything going, but I figured everyone would want to see what to expect. I don't want to spoil it for everyone, YET, but we probably WILL post this in the archive section of ardyvanstarr.com when we've got the site up and going.

I don't think it will upset anyone that I'm posting this now, but again, we want everyone to see where we are going with this, so that we let you know what to expect. Enjoy! Posted by Picasa

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Post 227: Booooooo Today. A RANT, not for Everyone.

Alright, I'm totally going to "Guy out" here. I HATE Valentine's Day. And I used to manage a Godiva Chocolatier...I REALLLLLLLY Hated it then. I know I have some female readers, so I'm going to try to explain my rationale.

Valentine's Day is what guys call a Hallmark Holiday. A day created by big business to push more unusable product on more people, and to generate sales for companies going through a quarterly slump. Look at it...Days like that are: Valentine's, Secretary's, Boss's, Mother's Day, Father's Day and others...now, sure, we all love and respect our wives, girlfriends, mothers, fathers and secretaries for those that have them, but that's why we celebrate their birthdays and Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanza, whatever...that's TWO days a year that we splurge for loved ones...

Me? I have Christmas on the 25th, wife's birthday on Jan 12th, Valentines (today), Easter (march or april), who knows whatelse (at some point, Mother's day) and it goes on.

I hate Hallmark days. There's nothing that tells a loved oen you love them as much as seeing 45 Zales, Kays and Jared commercials between an episode of 24. Obvious marketing of Valentine's gifts to a male oriented program...it just bugs me.

I'm sure lots of you like today, and some guys may actually get nice gifts, too, but I just personally don't like daysthat force me to say something I say twenty times a day anyway.

I hope you female readers don't hate me for this, since I've already given my wife a nice stuffed animal and a dozen roses, and will be taking her out to dinner and a movie tonight...just to show you that as much as I hate it...it still gets "practiced."

Monday, February 13, 2006

Post 226: NEWER Updates, hehe...comics, wrestling, radio, more...

Thanks for checking out elisalandis.com on this fine Monday morning...evening...nighttimes....hehe.

Alright, I'm going to try this in BULLETED fashion.

THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES:

- We actually anticipate a start date of either July 3rd, or July 10th. The only reason we'd push it back to the tenth is to NOT coincide with the holiday of July 4th, which would already hurt turnout.

- Expect a two-page introduction story to TAVA in the Keenspot Spotlight 2006 special. I'll probably post a scan of the pages (incomplete) here, so not to give too much away, but to let everyone see where JK and I are going with this.

- By July, we'll have at least 30 pages completed at the pace we are going, which is awesome, since that will give us ten weeks of material before a page even shows up.

- After LANDIS finishes, we'll DEFINITELY see Ardy: City That Never Sleeps: The 10th Anniversary Director's Cut here on Keenspot, probably right on the elisalandis.com site to ensure that everyone still gets their helpings of Potchak written comics. After that, I'll be releasing a version of it in book format.

LANDIS

- Landis is going to be over in only about three weeks time....but wait.

- Landis will return for one more black and white adventure on elisalandis.com that I'm calling "The Lost Pilot Episode." It is actually the FIRST issue that never happened, but could actually fit into continuity after the events of the current miniseries. This was the story that started the story, and made both myself and Chris Crosby realize exactly what kind of talent Owen REALLY and TRULY IS! He made my mediocrity as a writer come off as credible =). He may not be happy with how the art looks, but all his fans will want to see the transition when we reprint Landis.

- I'm in discussions with Crosby on HOW to bring Landis to print, just to fulfill my personal obligation to myself on getting that out. More news on this when more has been finalized.

FUTURE PROJECTS
- My contract with Keenspot states that "Future Considerations" is something that if both sides were to agree to, more POTS AND PANS INK projects could follow.

Wrestling!
- Christian Cage won the NWA World Title last nigth! Whoo....that's a huge step for this genius.

- Samoa Joe retainedhis title in probably what was the match of the night.

- Contrary to popular belief, I DID NOT purchase the PPV, so maybe I'm a hack.

Radio

- JK and I are in discussions to cmoe on board with Keens podcasts with our wrestling show...more on that as it becomes available. This is big, since this is something that JK and I are looking to do without doubt.

- The program will probably be weekly to start, and hopefully our first REAL presentation will beout of "beta" for Wrestlemania...this is a lofty goal, but we are committed.

- The show will probably be a two hour program, since we can't seem to stop talking about wrestling, but at the same time will probablybe available for downloading in one hour blocks. One being a WWE block and one being an INDY block.

- Advertising would be handled by Keen, but we wouldn't be against the iea of 30 second spots IN the show for possible other advertisers.

- We WILL plug our upcoming pojects and things we like...you know, free advertising.

MORE on this stuff when we have it...until then, take care!~

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Post 225!: Updates!

Well,

Eric told me that he's still working on THIEF, so who knows, this project may still see the light of day, and maybe even through Keenspot, like my other projects, but more on that as we get down to it.

Right now, I'm at least 30 pages into the TAVA story. I figure I'm going to run it as 48 page story arcs, though they will undoubtedly have chapters seperating in between. The reason for the 48 page format, is so that if we do print comics AFTER they are seen online, I want a reasonably priced book, and most publishers like Marvel and DC will do a 48 page story for $5.95, and I believe through my research, I've found that I'd be able to do that price as well...though not NEARLY as profitably as them...

Hey, I know everyone is skeptical of these things, but I've heard this one is 100% legit. Its to help me get an XBox 360...if you send them 5 other people, and sign up for one offer, you get one...if those 5 people also sign up. If folks help ME get one, I'll help them by adding their referral info up next...until then, anyone wanting to help out, here's the site...http://freexbox360.peel.com/refer.php?l=xbx12455766ycyfb

Monday, February 06, 2006

Post 224: A new day is upon us!

 Posted by Picasa


Its about as close to being a done deal as it CAN be (just need to sign and send the contracts).

To show how excited I am about today (since I'll probably be sending off the exclusive web agreement for THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES today or tomorrow), I went ahead and threw a little advertisement together for it.

With that all said and done, I know JK is about 6-7 pages into penciling the script, and says that he sees no reason why we shouldn't have a good buffer in front of us before either of us needs a vacation, hehe. We may even start up a website before the launch date, since at least one other ARDY story will be seen before we start doing the all new material.

I hope everyone else is as excited as me, since I haven't heard from near as many of you recently. It's a little funny, that with the start of the month elisalandis.com has had, February could VERY WELL be the BEST month yet in terms of hits.

All this, and JK and I will probably have a TNA radio show up before their PPV on Sunday.

Sunday, February 05, 2006

Post 223: The Ardy Vanstarr Adventures is Official.

Well, I thought it was a good statement. It looks as though POTS AND PANS INK (my comic label for my projects) will be bringing THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES and "Future considerations" to Keenspot...exclusively. It wasn't a hard decision to make since Chris has never really steered me wrong when it came to being honest and letting me know how any project I did would be treated.

The current thought that JK and I are going through is to have it launch on July 1st, and Keenspot will help out with promotion of the "event..." JK and I realize the necessity to get a nice little buffer in the amount of pages we have ready for Launch date because unforseen instances DO occur.

So, as we have around 20 pages of Original LANDIS material remaining, and we may very well use the one last complete Landis story a little later, after that Landis story, we have a 25 page ARDY story that I've discussed printing, and probably still will. That story is entitled ARDY: City That Never Sleeps. This story was completed 10 years ago, and was drawn by Timothy Johnson, and is NOTHING like what we have planned for TAVA.

When TAVA launches, you will see action, adventure, and if done correctly, funny. It's more along what I have always wanted to do, and if you looked at that art from a couple days ago, you will probably see why I see this being 100% different from whats out there, but also...why I think Ardy will desreve his own cartoon towards the end...and unlike Landis, JK and I are looking at a 3 year commitment to the project, though we may take certain hiatuses to ensure that when the project goes live, it is a top quality production and stays that way. Neither of us want to slouch and do a disserivce to you, our readers.

JK and I are also in discussions to bringsomething else to Keenspot exclusively, but more on that when we get further into the discussions.

Friday, February 03, 2006

What we have here, folks, is page five of the new ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES, and is nowhere near complete, but it gives you a good idea of what to expect. As we draw closer and closer to the BIG LANDIS finale (I'm sorry, I'm getting choked up), we will be launching the ALL NEW Ardy adventures (hopefully) july 1st.

This project is my dream, folks. And while we'll probably see another Ardy story happen BEFORE TAVA (The Ardy Vanstarr Adventures), we will see a whole new evolution of the character, now that he's 20 years old...now is the perfect time to sell it.

Let me know what you think either here on on the forum.  Posted by Picasa

Thursday, February 02, 2006

Post 221: Welcome ALL!

Hello! I see that some of you are not the usual LANDIS crowd, and because of that, I would like to take the time to THANK YOU for showing up! Please, feel free to let me know what you think of the comic either here, in the blog, OR on the forum. All feedback is greatly appreciated.

I hope you take the time to visit the rest of LANDIS' adventure, as well as when we launch ARDYVANSTARR.com...(SOON)...for a whole different experience.

Post 220: AP Furtado

Anyone who looks for good interviews on web-comic writer/artist/creators, ought to check this one out... from Comicon's Pulse website on none other than AP (Tony) Furtado. The dide knows his stuff, and we've worked together previously.

Also, check out APFurtado.net for updates on him and his upcoming projects from 01comics.com

Monday, January 30, 2006

Post #219: Rumble Results and what I said...

Hey folks, If you do like wrestling, I'd suggest checking out that real audio file that JK and I uploaded yesterday, as it gave more insight to the WWE than anyone could have guessed. I can now say that the predictability factor is what was upsetting. I'll put my predictions and the outcome in this...

Match one: KID KASH Cruiser Invitational...Six man match, one fall wins...

My Prediction: If Greg Helms or Knoble are in it, Kash does NOT retain. Actual: Greg Helms and Jamie Knoble BOTH show up, and Greg Helms wins the title...1 for 1

Second match: Ashley vs. Mickie with Trish as the special ref.

my prediction: Ashley by DQ... End: Mickie Wins and gropes Trish...weird.

Match three: Boogey Man vs. JBL...

my prediction: JBL via DQ Actual: Boogey SQUASHES (beats very easily) the forer world champ 4 minute match

Royal Rumble match: 30 man over the top battle royal for a title shot at wrestlemania.

My Prediction: Final three: RVD, HHH and Rey, winner: RVD Actual: Final four: RVD, HHH, Rey, Randy Orton. Winner: Rey Shawn Michaels gets knocked out of the Rumble by both Vince and Shane McMahon BOTH were predicted BY ME for this

Match 5: Cena vs. Edge for the WWE Championship

My prediction: Edge, because otherwise he'd have his career destroyed Actual: Cena "ends Edge's career" by destroying a good thing.

Match Six: Bad match placement, Angle vs. Mark Henry for the World Heavyweight Title.

Prediction: Angle, Actual: Angle...BAD MATCH...boring chants...

In actuality, I may not have predicted all the winners, but when you are choosing frmo 30 different men to win one match, and you get three of the last four right, that's damn good. The fact that I called the Greg Helms and the Shawn Michaels knock out, makes up for a lot of it...and on top of that, I also called the appearance of one Hacksaw Jim Duggan...but WHY?

For you NON-wrestling fans...here's some info...I was recently quoted in the latest edition of LYING IN THE GUTTERS by Rich Johnston about Batman's second Robin coming back to life and possibly taking the place of the guy he had replaced once in life, arleady, Dick Grayson as Nightwing...will it happen? Who knows, but it was fun to be mentioned...check out the article at CBR.cc.

Until next time, I'm out!

Sunday, January 29, 2006

Post 218: WRESTLING FANS: READ HERE!

http://fastfoodjunkies.net/podcast/wrestlingshow.ram

As big wrestling fans, JK Radtke (the new artist of THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES) and I decided we'd broadcast our first real audio wrestling show. Now mind you, its not all FOR ALL AGES, but its a good listen if you are looking for a real good insight as to what is going to happen at the Royal Rumble tonight.

We intend to actually do a wrapup after the broadcast of the Rumble itself, but I think all involved that listen will hear hints of genius in this, and when we start doing more of them, it'll definitely be on more people's listen lists.

BY THE WAY, the first 8 minutes or so are a little choppy, but if you just go past that, you should enjoy the rest.

Monday, January 23, 2006

Post 217: Landis update and more.

LANDIS UPDATE:

As you can no doubt tell, Landis for the rest of its current run (22 more updates) will be in black and white. While Chris, Owen and Myself would have preferred to have the entire story in color, an unexpected hiccup occurred, and we do not have color files for the remaining art. I personally want to apologize for it, but I can tell you that I agree with Chris when I say I love the art whether it is colored or black and white.

THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES Update:

Twenty five of the strips are fully written and plot details are beginning to show up. Ardy was a character created in 1986 by an 8 year old (me) and was developed as a character that was wanted for the destruction of his home planet. He was NOT the one that actually destroyed the planet, so because of this, he's been on the run in our sector and keeping a lower profile. The story will start with him attempting to clear his name as he gets caught, and will introduce at least 2 high profile characters. After the first story is over, he may have more interaction with the characters from Landis (including Janus and possibly Landis herself), but for the most part, the stories from Ardy will be ARDY specific, much like how Landis is the main character of her story and Ardy was a supporting character.

If all goes well, I'll have the Keenspot contract sometime in the next two weeks, and JK and I will probably have ARDY's first adventure in the Keenspot 2006 Free Comic Book Day book, as long as time and the pages permit. With all of Keenspot's stories having the opportunity to participate with that, JK and I want to be a part of it, too, as it should give people a good visual of the story, and hopefully with that kind of free advertising, will help bring in new viewers.

And by the way...24 is BY FAR, the best show on tv...hands down.
Post 216: As we get closer to the end of Landis volume 1, I realize that if I want the viewers to actually consider reading The Ardy Vanstarr Adventures (and yes, that will be the title), I've got to show you, the viewers, how it will be similar...and how it will be different.

From chatting with Chris Crosby the other night, I can honestly say he agrees with me when I say that TAVA will be unlike anything else available on the comic scene. Not because of how it is written, because as with what people noticed with Landis, I'm a little cliche when I write...its with the art. JK Radtke wanted to be a comic artist. He loves drawing and he loves a good story. I think we've crafted something special, and over the coming weeks, as LANDIS is finishing up, you'll see how ARDY will look and feel.

One thing about our NEW Ardy story...you will not see it first, as Chris and I have pretty much come to an agreement to "air" the Director's Cut of ARDY: CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS (The 10th Anniversary Edition). We'll start there to allow both JK and myself to get far enough ahead on the art and story to where we hopefully will not miss a beat.

And as an added bonus to add silliness to everything, JK and I are testing the waters with between chapter breaks that HE will write and *I* will draw. Don't know how that's going to pan out, but its to make sure that we stay ahead far enough and continue to give the readers an added touch.

The art above is a quick sketch of what the Intergalactic Police are going to look like. This may not be the final, and I don't think JK will be upset with me showing you all this...enjoy! Posted by Picasa