Tight Pants And Tiaras

!!!IMPORTANT FANCY BASTARD NEWS!!!

hijinks-ensue-godspeed-you-fancy-bastard-book

July 1st – July 31st will be your LAST CHANCE to get a PERSONALIZED HE BOOK 1 ARTIST EDITION until the 2011 holiday season!!!

ORDER NOW or forever (or for like 6 months) hold on to your funds!

After July 31st you will be able to order the book through my Topatoco store in regular and (non-personalized, as in “pre drawn”) Artist Edition flavors. If you want something special in your HE book 1 you must act nowish.

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Thanks to FB Michael for suggesting the setting for this comic based on me started “Couch to 5K” yesterday. And bigger thanks to Spike for suggesting that I get off my ass and get some exercise. I think I will do a podcast with my initial impressions of C25K after the first week.

I don’t really give a crap about Wonder Woman’s new costume or rewritten past. I stopped reading Marvel and DC super hero comics (by which I mean comics featuring the standard roster of characters that have been around for 30-60 years) when I was 13 or so. The traditional comics industry is a bit like a dog that eats it’s own shit. Continue reading

An Uncommon iNfestation

“Quick! Get me a Macbook Air. We must shave him! It is the only way to sap him of his strength!”

Thanks to everyone that watched me draw this comic live on Ustream. Follow me on Twitter if you want to know when the live streams are going to be.

I remember when I bought the very first Macbook Pro (15″ Core Duo) that it had a set of dummy screws on the left side of the chasis that served no purpose other than to duplicate the functional screws on the right side of the machine. You see Uncle Steve strives always to maintain harmony, balance and above all, gadget homeostasis. It warms my various circuits and doodads to know that my personal electronics of choice are architected by an absolute madman.

[Science Fiction TV-Movie Title Generator T-Shirt @Topatoco!!!
There is also a PRINT of this design too!]

SciFi SyFy Tv-Movie Title Generator Shirt

This ideal is evidenced most by the fact that no one ever even wants the white version of whatever Apple puts out (accept for the Macbook 13″. There seems to be a colon-ton of those things around). I suspect that, per his own special brand of megalomaniacal lunacy, Steve dreamed up the white iPhone 4 only to serve as counterpart the black one. Perhaps to give you a less favorable alternative in order to make your darker choice seem somehow more fulfilling. Choosing one thing OVER another is certainly something more to be proud of than simply taking the only thing that is available. Hell, that’s actually one of the core principals of Mac Fanboyism.

Special Delivery II: The Trackening

Panel 4: Two sections of tree trunk, adorned with spikes and suspended by vines come swinging at the delivery man from both sides compacting most of his parts while oddly enough expanding others.

Keen observers will note that Joel is covered in mud. This is due to the little known fact that Fed Ex only employees delivery drivers with thermographic vision and a cat-like sense of smell.

Some Other Neat Stuff:

  1. Jon Rosenberg has a new comic for nerds called “Scenes From A Multiverse
  2. Lee Unkrich (director of Toy Story 3) linked to my comic on his twitter
  3. There is a new Fancy Bastard Facebook Fan Page

You’ve Got A Friend In Me

Friend to HE Jon Rosenberg has a new comic called “Scenes From a Multiverse.” It has pretty pictures and nerdy words. It’s like Goats, but minus the 12 years of continuity to catch up on. You will enjoy it.

Toy Story 3 is the best film of 2010 and the best Pixar film to date. The end.

It was perfect. I don’t care that it’s animated, or aimed at kids or CG or that it has one extra dimension. That movie is a gee-dee masterpiece of story telling. I cried real human-style tears for at least the last 15 minutes.

[Science Fiction TV-Movie Title Generator T-Shirt @Topatoco!!!
There is also a PRINT of this design too!]

SciFi SyFy Tv-Movie Title Generator Shirt

SPOILERS BELOW!!!!!

I’m not going to do a full review, but I do want to list a few things that I especially enjoyed and others that pushed Toy Story 3 past Pixar‘s typical fabulousness and straight into “Best Picture Oscar” territory:

  • The entire opening sequence. I haven’t laughed that hard at another movie this year.
  • The improv toy troop
  • Ken
  • Spanish Buzz. “El Vaquero!”
  • Mr. Tortia Head
  • The incinerator scene. I completely forgot I was watching a cartoon at that point.
  • Lotso’s complete lack of redemption
  • Woody’s realization that he had to let Andy go
  • Andy’s “one last play” with the toys

Buh! I’m starting to mist up again. I better go Watch the first 8 minutes of Up! so I can calm d…BLOOOHOOOO HOOOHOOOO HOOOOHOOOOO!!!!!

Please share your thoughts on Toy Story 3 in the comments. Try to keep SPOILERS to a minimum but be warned that THE COMMENTS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!!!!!

Get Off On BK’s

This comic is either about Patrick Stewart getting knighted, or shoes from the 90’s. You decide.

When you look at the list of celebrities the Queen of England has chosen to bestow the honour of Knighthood on, you either get the impression that she’s a “Gotta Catch ‘Em All!” type collector of geek pop culture figureheads, or she is planning the most amazing party of all time. Of the few I mention in panel two (above) you actually get more than twice the Knightly value for your Queenly dollar (or pound). You pay for Bond, Gandalf, Saruman, Alfred and the good Captain of the Enterprise D/E, and you get Henry Jones Sr., Magneto the master of magnetism, a Sith Lord, Austin Powers’ dad and Professor X for free!

[Science Fiction TV-Movie Title Generator T-Shirt @Topatoco!!! There is also a PRINT of this design too!]

SciFi SyFy Tv-Movie Title Generator Shirt

As far as party entertainment goes you’ve got your all star band featuring a be-Donald-Duck-suited Elton John, Paul “The Walrus” “The Paulrus” McCartney, Brian May the noted astrophysicist who also happens to be the guitar god from Queen, some guy named Boner… Bonner… Bono (whatever, I’ve never heard of him) and at least a couple of guys from either The Who or Pink Floyd or BOTH who probably aren’t dead yet. She might not be planning a party. She might be planning the end of the world.

I also find it highly suspect that she picks her knew Knights on her birthday. It reminds me of Francis from PeeWee’s Big Adventure. Like she walks up to a noted entertainer’s manager and says “I will have this one for my collection. Wrap him up and deliver him to the palace with bow on his head and a dusting a baby powder on his nethers.”

Hell, even Steven Spielberg‘s an honorary Knight (you can’t go full armor and chain-male if you weren’t born in Britain). Maybe she wants him to document “The Final Party” for… well, I guess no one would be left. Maybe for whoever cleans up the mess. Let’s say the French.

Considering the general level of geekery at The Round Table, it gets even weirder when you look at the lower honours like Commander and Officer. She’s got Serenity‘s Operative Chiwetel Ejiofor, Liam “I play a Jedi or a bad ass in every movie” Neeson, Michael Palin and  J.R.R. Tolkien. Is the Queen a closet nerd? Is she wearing out VHS tapes of old Python sketches, and reading “The Return Of The King” while listening to “Bicycle Race” on 45?

Whatever her grand scheme is I think she is overlooking two valuable additions to her roster of Britain’s finest. Christian Bale and Daniel Day-Lewis. I don’t think I owe an explanation for either of those other than to mask my geek boner with a text book or a jacket. My man-crushes on these man-men are the man-crushes of humanity. Perhaps she is saving them for her final two Knight… holes… slots? Her final Knight slots. Once all holes… slots are filled, the moon will crack to reveal its hollow core which contains an orbital disco ball only slight smaller than the moon itself. The sun’s rays will hit its hundreds of thousands of tiny mirrors and the people of earth will dance as the super intense reflected light rays render our gyrating booties to naught but smoldering ash. I hope she serves scones.