The State Of The Universe

Wil Wheaton and I got excited and made this “Fighting Time Lords” shirt for you! No, really. Specifically FOR YOU.

Gallifrey University Fighting Time Lords Shirt - Doctor Who parody, geeky tees, funny t-shirts,  nerdy shirts

[Sorry, non-Doctor Who fans. This one doesn’t make any sense to you.]

The Whitehouse’s official stance on aliens, UFO’s and the like is that we haven’t yet made contact, and no information regarding extraterrestrials has been concealed by the government from the public. But, isn’t that EXACTLY what they would say if they WERE covering something up? And if The Silence are involved, do they even know they are covering it up? If Fox Moulder voted for Obama, would it be “Change I WANT TO BELIEVE in?” Further more, do astronauts have sex in space? How does that even work? So many mysteries.

When I was a kid, I was both facinated and terrified by the idea of aliens visiting Earth. The early 90’s saw a strange surge in alien related media. Perhaps The X-Files started it, or perhaps the interest in UFO’s paved the way for the show. Either way, there were TV specials, movies and books coming out left and right that all seemed to say the same thing: We are not alone, and the truth is being kept from us. I soaked up every bit of info I could (which was hard pre-Internet) and felt that I had an above average working knowledge of “the truth.” I knew all about the inconsistencies of the reports surrounding Roswell, the military personell that had come forward only to be discredited, the similarities in abduction stories and the “greys.” I just accepted that this was the secret truth and eventually it would all come out. I could understand, even at 11 years old, why the government would lie about these events, but I never even questioned the “abductees” themselves. Why would anyone lie about such a thing? I also wanted us to get as close to a Star Trek reality as possible in my lifetime, and aliens jump starting our technology and society seemed like a good way to get the ball rolling.

I realize now how I let my youthful naivety and enthusiasm for sci-fi get out of hand. I firmly believe there are other lifeforms in the universe, those we would recognize as life and those we would not, but I doubt they are monitoring us or conducting experiments on us. A life-sustaining world might be such a rarity in the universe, and the distances between them so great, that even given millions of intelligent species two of them would just never cross paths. Life may also be abundant in the universe, but just not all at the same time. Perhaps species are born and die in the relative blink of an eye and hardly ever coexist. I hope that’s not the case. How lonely if it is.

COMMENTERS: Were you, as I, fascinated by aliens as a kid? Are you now? Any defining moments that lead you to believe one way or another? One thing that sticks out for me was the TV movie version of “Communion.” There was a scene where a little boy runs to a lake, a woman chases him, then sees a spaceship floating over the lake and when the boy turns around he has the face of a grey. THAT. SHIT. SCARED. ME. TO. DEATH. The images was burned into my brain and haunted me for years. It was especially horrifying because I believed it was 100% true and was probably going to happen to me eventually. So far it hasn’t… or has it? [No, probably not.]

Austin Comic Con 2011 Fancy Photo Comic

Wil Wheaton and I got excited and made this “Fighting Time Lords” shirt for you! No, really. Specifically FOR YOU.

Gallifrey University Fighting Time Lords Shirt - Doctor Who parody, geeky tees, funny t-shirts,  nerdy shirts

[Since I was unable to make comics during Austin Comic Con, I am backdating a few LoFi’s and a photo comic in the archive as not to interfere with the coming week’s comics. Please to enjoy.]

This  fancy photo comic features my favorite Doctor Who cosplay of all time, if not my favorite cosplay period. I don’t know if the Ood mask was purchased or made, but the eyes glowed and it was entirely rad. Big thanks to James for being my booth babe all weekend. We never did touch wieners, but there is always next year.

COMMENTERS: Come up with the mouseover text for this photo comic. I will pick my favorite one and add it to the archive permanently. [UPDATE: Ok, I actually just picked my own. Sorry.]

From The Mouthes Of Booth Babes

Wil Wheaton and I got excited and made this “Fighting Time Lords” shirt for you! No, really. Specifically FOR YOU.

Gallifrey University Fighting Time Lords Shirt - Doctor Who parody, geeky tees, funny t-shirts,  nerdy shirts

[Since I was unable to make comics during Austin Comic Con, I am backdating a few lofi’s in the archive as not to interfere with the coming week’s comics. Please to enjoy.]

Most of the things HE Fancy Booth Babe James says in this comic are actual quotes. Somewhere along the way, he accidentally got pretty funny. I texted the thing about Kevin Sorbo to Wil, to which he replied “Lollerskates.” That’s about as high a seal of approval as a joke can ask for. I think James peed a little (a lot).

I do believe the next update will be a rather short Austin Comic Con fancy photo comic featuring my favorite cosplayer of the weekend. Feel free to guess the costume in the comments. Hints: I have never seen this costume done before (in 30 or so cons), it was executed perfectly and part of it glowed.

COMMENTERS: If you are a frequent con-goer, what costumes, activities, merchants, exhibitors, nachos, etc are you sick of seeing at every single show? What would you like to see more of? Personally, I am done with ill-fitting Starfleet uniforms, “free hugs” signs and artists that sit at their tables drawing, never looking up or making eye contact with anyone. I would like to see more well tailored Starfleet uniforms, alternative materials costumes (duck tape Bat Girl, paint swatch medieval knight, etc) and a Predator whose mandibles are mechanically articulated.

Sedentariat

Wil Wheaton and I got excited and made this “Fighting Time Lords” shirt for you! No, really. Specifically FOR YOU.

Gallifrey University Fighting Time Lords Shirt - Doctor Who parody, geeky tees, funny t-shirts,  nerdy shirts

[Since I was unable to make comics during Austin Comic Con, I am backdating a few lofi’s in the archive as not to interfere with the coming week’s comics. Please to enjoy.]

The spritely youth, full of vim, vigor and wide-eyed optimism is former HijiNKS ENSUE summer intern and current Austin Comic Con booth babe James. The above exchange happened nearly word for word as we arrived at the Austin Convention Center for setup and day one of the con. It is safe to say that I don’t get much exercise. Thus, when presented with the occasional physical exertion (which apparently includes walking a few blocks from the parking lot while pulling a hand cart), my body responds with cardiac arrest, renal failure, sudden onset juvenile diabetes and spontaneous human oldness disorder. These maladies were exacerbated by the fact that my back pain is at a sort of all-time high right now, which has also prompted me to use a cane while walking to and through the convention. I am merely 60 Vicodin and a few misdiagnosed cases of Lupus away from House territory.

It’s very strange realizing that your body is slowly but steadily betraying you. I don’t plan to use the cane permanently, or even that often, but it seems to help relieve some of the strain typically caused during a convention (typically brought on by bad chairs, lots of sitting, lots of lifting, lots of carrying, etc). I am extremely aware of the fact that I am using it. I am not able to just take a leisurely stroll without being constantly aware of trying to line up my new “magic leg” with the other two shitty ones. It’s like dancing with a one-legged robot.

More convention shenaniganery with James tomorrow!

COMMENTERS: Assuming you are not 14 or a mandroid, when did you first realize you were aging/getting older? Basically, tell us what you used to be able to do that you can’t do any more, preferably with some embarrassing story of personal injury or dismemberment.

Wheaton Comic Dare: Sterling Cooper Maverick Goose

Wil Wheaton and I got excited and made this “Fighting Time Lords” shirt for you! No, really. Specifically FOR YOU.

Gallifrey University Fighting Time Lords Shirt - Doctor Who parody, geeky tees, funny t-shirts,  nerdy shirts

Occasionally Wil Wheaton dares me to turn random tweets into comics. This burden, this curse is mine alone to carry. One day I will find a way to break the chains that bind me to the will of Wheaton, but until then you can benefit from my suffering. That is assuming you have any idea at all what is happening in the above comic. Do you? Can you explain it to me? I blacked out about halfway through drawing it and when I awoke the house was on fire. [He makes me doooo thiiinnnngs… baaaaad thiiiinnngs]

This particular Wheaton comic dare originated from a tweetversation between me and Fancy Bastard @pipsipirate regarding “Top Men” and their relationship to both Top Gun and Mad Men. Highway to the danger zone, indeed. Apparantly Wil Wheaton has my twitterphones tapped or else I retweeted the exchange, because mere moments after the initial transmission he threw down the gauntlet

Having completed the challenge and being hardly any worse for the wear [some of my skin has started to grow back], I am now hoping someone far more talented than me will remake the entire Mad Men intro using elements of Top Gun. There’s already all of that falling. The work practically does itself.

HijiNKS ENSUE At Austin ComicCon - Wizard World Austin

AUSTING COMIC CON IS THIS WEEKEND!!! [MORE INFO]
November 11-13 at the Austin Convention Center! Look for me in the artist alley.