Messages

76

General Chat / Re: Comic Books

« on: September 23, 2011, 03:38:46 PM »

That's a bit of a defeatist attitude.  I think part of why it's an issue now, even when objectifying women in comics isn't really new is that they DID have a chance to do better.  And after the hoopla with the lack of diversity in the creative teams, how did no one in the process of creating these stories that are entirely intended to bring in new readers not think for a second "Well, maybe making Starfire stand around like this, nailing anything that moves, might not draw in a new group of readers". 

And many times when things like this are brought up, someone will say something to the effect that there are other comics out there, not Marvel or DC or whoever is under scrutiny, but that runs into the problem that, when done well, I enjoy these characters and stories.  I like Batman.  I want to read Batman stories.  I want Batman stories to not represent a group wholesale in a terrible fashion. 

77

General Chat / Re: Comic Books

« on: September 23, 2011, 02:15:42 PM »

http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/09/22/starfire-catwoman-sex-superheroine/

The reboot/relaunch/redone DC New 52 is around halfway through it's initiation, and while I have only gotten the new Birds of Prey because it's the only one on my pull list that is being continued, it appears that there have been some issues with the portrayal of some characters.  Namely, that they aren't being used as characters, but as lusty objects.  Now, I'm not going to recap it all that much, because the article is there, and it's said there much better than I could ever articulate.

But, I wonder what the general thoughts are of the people here.  I'll admit, I'm not really looking forward to the responses, because this is place that has used 'hit-list' to describe women that are attractive, but I guess I'm just being optimistic in giving it a shot.  Maybe I'll be surprised. (This could have also gone in You Rage, You Lose, just for the disgusting comments for the article).  Really, though, I just don't see how it can still be so hard to create characters that don't **** an entire gender off.  Sexy looking is fine, and I get it, it sells.  But this is supposed to be a narrative, character driven, not cheap thrills pandering to the most base of the male 13-16 year old desire.  Even if you want to put sexiness in make it part of the greater whole of what the person, male or female, is.

As far as less rage-y comics, I am really enjoying the Spider-Island event going on with Marvel right now.  ASM is really good, and I think it's doing a great job of having the event weave through the other books and the main title.  Too often I find that events have a hard time keeping focus with as many tie-in books, but this seems to be better at dealing with the main problem, and showing that more is happening elsewhere that you can read about.  The whole Venom/Anti-Venom storyline is really interesting.  Plus, they're doing a Cloak and Dagger book, and I really enjoy those characters.

78

General Chat / Re: Ponies!

« on: September 17, 2011, 06:04:16 PM »

I've watched it as well, just that I don't tend to get wrapped up in the fandom

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Not at the Dinner Table / Re: If 9/11 never happened...

« on: September 17, 2011, 03:29:15 PM »

Well I understand why this is in Not At The Dinner Table. Talking about adding and removing days like they're nothing. What dispicable thoughts!

80

Fan Creations / Re: Brain Drippings and Comic pages

« on: September 11, 2011, 06:56:36 PM »

Forgot to mention with the Spider-Man picture post, but to help garner interest in the comic, and in the intent of giving a Kickstarter project I intend to launch soon a little more to work with (as far as content examples), I posted the pages with the complete story text in place.  Realize now that it's easier to entice others with a full story than just high res images. 

So, here's page one, and the rest can currently be read on my deviantArt page Here.

81

Video Game Chat / Re: Gears of War 3

« on: September 10, 2011, 02:32:49 PM »

That's what I was saying.  I didn't think it was important, but I never played the second one so I didn't know.

82

Video Game Chat / Re: Gears of War 3

« on: September 09, 2011, 11:01:34 PM »

That lancer is pretty cool.  Can't say I'm anywhere NEAR enough a fan to desire it, but cool regardless.

Also, don't need to hear about Ice T's arousal from the 360...

And finally, is the story deep and engaging enough for me to buy the second before I get this?  Will I be lost, or is it essentially People dieing, locust attacking, tough guy sound bang bang?  I'd just a soon get the cliffnotes version of 2, but if it's actually good I might try to find it cheap.

83

Fan Creations / Re: Brain Drippings and Comic pages

« on: September 09, 2011, 10:11:00 PM »

Thanks. Heh, it's actually as I lost patience that I felt the webbing took on a better look.  About 75% through the web net, I switched from a loose, draping webbing to a pulled taut web, and thought "well shoot, that looks better and takes easily half the time".

84

Fan Creations / Re: Brain Drippings and Comic pages

« on: September 09, 2011, 10:00:32 PM »

Spider-Man 2's game is probably my favorite of all Spidey's numerous titles.  I have played it so much, mostly just a few minutes at a time before I get ready to start the day for real, and I felt like doing this.  I meant to add ink and color, but this took a bit longer than I would have liked, between not properly estimating the time it would take to do the webbing or thugs in the net, and just not having as much time to draw, so I need to get back to the comic.  Therefore, we have just the wireframes, a term I picked up from Freddie E. Williams, II, to describe dead line art.  I have found that doing it like this, with all one line weight, keeps me from getting too finicky with what should be blacked out, keeps my anatomy honest, and if I do all the inking at once gives more cohesive lines and lighting.

Blah Blah Blah look at the Spidey fan art.

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Forum Games / Re: Color War

« on: September 07, 2011, 05:27:01 PM »

I was honestly expecting worse.

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Video Game Chat / Re: Best/Worst Controllers

« on: September 06, 2011, 04:58:12 PM »

Dualshock 2 was neat, I like the use of analog on face buttons.  The symmetry is something I like, but not something I count against other controllers.  The 360 feels good in my hands, a good size, the shoulder buttons and triggers I think are better than the PS3's.  Wii remote is okay, but quite nice with the grip covers.  Original Saturn controller is quite good in it's simplicity and straightforward.  It still has a reputation as a fantastic pad for fighting games. The arcade stick for the NES was rather good, heavy duty, solid, and fairly responsive.  The SNES one on the other hand....

Jaguar's was an unwieldy beast. I don't care much for the SNES controller, they just feel flimsy to me, same with the original Playstation controller.  I can understand the issues with the N64 controller, but I never had any problem.  I had more issues with the X-Box S than the original, but neither are great.  Dreamcast was fine in regard to size, but felt like one too many high-tension rounds of ChuChu Rocket would snap it in half.  The NES is quite the opposite, being really solid feeling, but especially now that I'm older it is ergonomic as a brick.

And, finally, does anybody have any experience with those hybrid mouse/controllers for either the 360 or PS3?  I love mice, but no enjoyment for keyboards, and wonder what the opinion is on them, because if they suck, $80 is a bit of a steep investment that is even more niche than a fightstick.

87

Game Help / Re: mIRC Alternative?

« on: September 04, 2011, 11:04:08 PM »

I use Trillian, and it seems to work fairly well. I admittedly don't know much about irc, like what features people have come to expect, but it's free and pretty straightforward.

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Forum Games / Re: What's on your Paste?

« on: August 22, 2011, 09:54:12 AM »

1849 Grant Boulevard
Syracuse NY 13208

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Forum Games / Re: You "Awesome," You Lose

« on: August 19, 2011, 07:31:33 PM »

Yes, knowing the TF2 characters does make it funnier. Otherwise the humor is just giving Fluttershy a Russian accent.

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General Chat / Re: Relationdukars

« on: August 16, 2011, 11:38:40 AM »

I could give excuses about my maturity not being at the right level, or how there's no one of interest, but really, I'm not much of a catch.  I'm plain to look at at best, but more importantly I'm far too bitter, far too awkward, and far too uninteresting. 

...fat, and/or too shallow to bother with.

Yea, forget those shallow chicks, they only care how you look, right?