X-Europeans

Wil Wheaton and I got excited and made a thing! Check out our University of Gallifrey Fighting Time Lords Shirt over at Sharksplode.

I am closing out some current t-shirt and print designs. Please check out this blog post since the stuff on closeout probably won’t be available again.

Rejoice nerds. Our long national nightmare is over. X-Men: First Class has wiped clean the stains left on the X-Movie Franchise by X-Men 3: Frasier Beast and X-Men Original Recipe: Wolverine. It really is that good. Before I get to the good, I will quickly dispatch with the bad. As stated in the panels above, the films Americanizes ALL of the non-American characters from the comics. This seems like a very strange and totally unnecessary choice. The X-Men were always supposed to be an international collective, representative not of any one country, but of the world. It’s supposed to be mutants v. humans, not americans v. everyone else. Since the plot of the movie revolves around the cuban missile crisis, I wonder if they did this to place emphasis on the American/Russion conflict. This doesn’t ruin the movie, but it will leave longtime X-Fans confused. The other major gripe I have it will Emma Frost. The casting, the writing, and the characterization are just wrong. She comes off in the film as a tarty, sexy, fun-loving, bond girl. Where is the stone cold fake-British-accent-sporting bitch we all love to hate/love? [NOTE: I admit I am primarily familiar with the Emma from Astonishing X-Men and realize she might have been portrayed differently in the past or in other titles, perhaps without an accent at all.] January Jones (who until recently I assumed was Blake Lively), either can’t act or just doesn’t want to. Again, these are small gripes that only slightly detract from an otherwise fantastic movie.

Now for the good. The rest of it… is the good. Michael Fassbender as Magneto OWNS this movie. While I adored Ian McKellan’s portral of the master of magnetism, it was clear we were seeing a battle weary version of Magneto in his twilight years. He was more concerned with playing general to his various henchmen than getting into the thick of things himself. He was probably on a 2-3 bottles of Ensure a day habit and likely went to bed around 8pm, right after “The Wheel” went off. The Magneto we see in First Class is in his prime. He’s an assassin, a fucking unstoppable badass. And his friendship/idealogical struggle with Charles Xavier really balance out his all consuming need for revenge. Speaking of accents, Fassbender’s Irish accent pops out towards the end of the film during a few moments of impassioned speech.

Why X-Men: First Class aims to be like a 1960s James Bond film
X-Men: First Class: Not Your Same Old Mutant Angst
What X-Men: First Class learned from X-Men: The Last Stand’s mistakes
Check out this 90’s made-for-TV-Movie version of Generation X. It’s amazingly terrible.

There are parts of the film that feel like it should be called X-Position Men. Characters pick their codenames, give their backstories or drop an unusual amount of backstory in a very short of amount of time, but you can’t really fault them for trying to bring the average movie goer up to speed quickly in order to move the plot along. Some of it feels ham-fisted, like when Mystique says, “I want to be called Mystique and you should be Professor X!” But most of it goes over just fine. I also applaud the filmmakers for establishing quite clearly that the movie takes place in the 1960’s but somehow keeping everything mostly decade agnostic. It doesn’t feel like a period piece which keeps things more relatable. Final verdict: GO SEE IT. Fun times.

COMMENTERS: Did you see X-Men: First Class? What did you think? Do you hope they continue the franchise in this timeline?

Phoenix Comicon Fancy Photo Comic Outtakes

Wil Wheaton and I got excited and made a thing! Check out our University of Gallifrey Fighting Time Lords Shirt over at Sharksplode.

I am closing out some current t-shirt and print designs. Please check out this blog post since the stuff on closeout probably won’t be available again any time soon.

NEWS! I will not be attending HeroesCon this weekend. Read more HERE. Sorry, Charlotte Fancy Bastards.

IT’S MY 30th BIRTHDAY RIGHT NOW! LOOK AT ME, EMBRACING MY MORTALITY! I DO NOT FEAR YOU, DEATH! I WELCOME YOU AS A FRIEND! WOULD YOU LIKE TO GET A BEER? How can you help celebrate my 1/3 life crisis? Oh I don’t know… maybe donate, get something off the wish list or buy something from the store or Sharksplode? Sure. Why not. Whatever.

If you have read my Phoenix Comicon Fancy Photo comic, then you understand the heat-induced delusions I must have been suffering when I tell you my original plan involved all of the above panels being integrated into that original comic. It would have been a comic so tall, so massive, such an affront to God, that people would have attempted to scale it in order to reach the heavens. I felt like the previous Phoenix Fun Times comic had a loose narrative, so rather than call this “Part 2,” I am calling it “The Outtakes.” These are the bits that landed on the cutting room floor.

Big big thanks to Wil, Anne and Ryan Wheaton, Boyan and Amy. Additional thanks to Aaron “Chief” Douglas, the Phoenix Ghostbusters, the naked men who assaulted me, the people in the Stargate whose names I never caught (though the man drew Ryan’s super portrait and also draws Spider-Man), the wizarding folk, the cranky, square-headed man with the ballon house and Eric Fiallos who took the Geek Prom photos.. Damn, I already miss Phoenix.

Phoenix Comicon Fancy Photo Comic

Wil Wheaton and I got excited and made a thing! Check out our University of Gallifrey Fighting Time Lords Shirt over at Sharksplode.

I am closing out some current t-shirt and print designs. Please check out this blog post since the stuff on closeout probably won’t be available again any time soon.

NEWS! I will not be attending HeroesCon this weekend. Read more HERE. Sorry, Charlotte Fancy Bastards.

My mother freakin’ 30th birthday is tomorrow! How can you help celebrate my 1/3 life crisis? Oh I don’t know… maybe donate, get something off the wish list or buy something from the store or Sharksplode? Sure. Why not. Whatever.

Phoenix. Oh, sweet dear Phoenix. How I have fallen under your siren song. Or perhaps I am just light headed from the dry heat. Either way, I can say without a doubt that the time I spent last week in Phoenix, AZ was some of the most fun I have ever had in my entire life. What a way to usher out my 20’s and begin the long, slow crawl towards the grave. I hope the (unbearably lengthy) comic above illustrates just how amazing of a time it was.

Phoenix Comicon, while still firmly rooted in its anime-con upbringing, was one of the better comic/pop culture cons I have attended. The fans were just fantastic. Enthusiasm and fandom abounded. People in fur suits also abounded, but you take what you can get, right? It was really my kind of show. 1000’s and 1000’s of kids literally wearing their fandom on their sleeves. Their weird, hand crafted, often cardboard sleeves. If I could do 5 shows like this a year I wouldn’t do any others. I actually sold out of all of merch for both Phoenix AND Heroes Con (which is one of the main reasons I had to pull out of that show). I have already signed up for next year, so look for me in your sandy, parched grasp in 2012.

After the show each night I met up with Wil Wheaton, his wife Anne (“Molly” in the final panel), their son Ryan (hurphing next to his facepalming dad) and his friends John Scalzi, Boyan Radakovich and Amy Black. While I was already well acquainted with Wil, I did not expect to make such fast friends with his family and assorted cohorts. Our little group of creatives, writers, and Internet vagabonds spent every evening after the show together exploring downtown Phoenix, dining, drinking, playing games, and crashing the occasional geek prom. I know this is sappy, but it was really a magical time. When reflecting on the lives we live, Wil commented, “I hope I never wake up.” That really sums up my feelings. I am so grateful for the opportunities I am given to meet wonderful people and integrate them into my life.

I also want to mention and say thanks to Cherie Priest, a sci-fi writer and a friend of John and Wil’s who makes a cameo in panels 13 and 24. We are both from the same area in Southeast Texas and we had fun commiserating on our mutual escape from the region. Additional thanks to Nerdchick, who’s video of Wil’s performance of The Last Unicorn Pegasus Kitten inspired those panels above, and “grown up” film star April O’Neil who portrays Counselor Troi in this comic, as well as in the “grown up” Star Trek: TNG parody. I also need to shout out to Eric Fiallos, the photographer who took the prom picture in the final panel. The image captures one my favorite things that has ever happened. Evar.

Guest Comic By Brian Patterson Of d20 Monkey: “The World According To L.A.R.P.”

Wil Wheaton and I got excited and made a thing! Check out our University of Gallifrey Fighting Time Lords Shirt over at Sharksplode.

I am closing out some current t-shirt and print designs. Please check out this blog post since the stuff on closeout probably won’t be available again any time soon.

NEWS! I will not be attending HeroesCon this weekend. Read more HERE. Sorry, Charlotte Fancy Bastards.

GUEST COMIC WEEK ROCKETS INTO TOMORROW! In celebration of my 30th birthday I’m taking the week off. How can you help celebrate my 1/3 life crisis? Oh I don’t know… maybe donate, get something off the wish list or buy something from the store or Sharksplode? Sure. Why not. Whatever.

Today’s foam tipped and cardboard shielded guest comic comes from Brian Patterson of d20 Monkey! The last time Brian sat in for me it was one of the best received guest comics in HE history (HEstory, or HijiNKS ENSUstory), so of course when the need arose I asked him to take the reigns once more. I do apologize to any of you Fancy Bastards that can’t control the boners produced by panel 3. If boners persist for more than four hours, please see a physician.

Guest Comic By Len Peralta “Gaga Giveaways”

Wil Wheaton and I got excited and made a thing! Check out our Gallifrey University Fighting Time Lords Shirt which you can purchase now over at Sharksplode.

I am closing out some current t-shirt and print designs. Please check out this blog post since the stuff on closeout probably won’t be available again any time soon.

NEWS! I will not be attending HeroesCon this weekend. Read more HERE. Sorry, Charlotte Fancy Bastards.

GUEST COMIC WEEK CONTINUES WITH RECKLESS ABANDON! In celebration of my 30th birthday I’m taking the week off and recharging from Phoenix Comicon (which was amazing btw). How can you help celebrate my 1/3 life crisis? Oh I don’t know… maybe donate, get something off the wish list or buy something from the store or Sharksplode? Sure. Why not.

Today’s gagaguest comic comes from Len Peralta! Len is an amazing geek illustrator who has worked with Paul and Storm, w00tstock, Jonathan Coulton, John Hodgeman, Rifftrax and Wil Wheaton. He is also the creator of the “Geek A Week” trading cards and the “50 vs. 50 Project“. If you like knowing what awesome geeks are up to, follow Len on twitter.