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.

11/29/06: MORE GREAT NEWS...THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES RELATED!

Whoa...how many posts am I slapping up here this week? You'd almost think I had time to think and put coherant thoughts together, but that is most definitely NOT the case, heh.

Anyway, I figured EVERYONE would like to see what JK RADTKE is up to with ARDY, and The Ardy Vanstarr Adventures, and this morning, when I looked in my email inbox, I saw just that... two new pieces of art, one of which I'm going to display here (unless JK tells me to take it down... but until then, its going up because I'm really excited about it!)

So without further adeui...

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